Every Second Matters, Every Moment Counts
by mrs.salvatore39
Summary: my 100th fic. a look back at all the moments that have brought us the love of Damon and Elena.
1. Chapter 1

_a/n:this is a huge milestone for me and I would be lying if I said I didn't feel a bit accomplished. For my 100__th__ fic I really wanted to do something special. Some of you might not like this, and I can understand it- but when most tv shows reach their 100__th__ episode they do a special flashback thing, so I'm trying my own twist on that. I will be going back and creating scene to shot fics (minus the full smut) for most of the important Delena moments. There are some scenes I've already done for previous fics, but I'm excited to get into the minds of these characters a little more. I do hope you enjoy. Happy Reading._

Back to the Beginning pt 1

(Damon's POV)

I had to admit, that even while my human body got me much further with the ladies, my talent for shifting into the crow held its temptations. The mere freedom of flight alone was enough to keep me in this form, along with basic invisibility. I could go anywhere I wanted virtually unseen. When I landed on the headstone of Grayson and Miranda Gilbert, I knew that I was going to get my first real look at their daughter. At Elena…at Katherine's doppelganger. And that, she most certainly was. The generation she'd been born into had taken quite a different take on fashion and hair, and while I found myself recognizing her for what she was, I was looking at an almost entirely different person. She just sat there, writing in her diary but the emotions she was keeping secret from the world, the inner thoughts she allowed only the page to see- they were clear in her eyes in this unsheltered moment.

It was clear what she was thinking about, what she was feeling I couldn't help wanting to reach out to her. I could remember how soft Katherine's hair felt, how gentle her skin was beneath my fingers. I wondered if she felt the same. I wonder if she would supply the same delicious pleasure moans in ecstasy. She looked up as the bird call came almost involuntarily. "Okay," she smiled slightly, looking right at me. "hi bird." Ridiculous, the first words she would say to me and I was covered in feathers. I called out to her again, almost before I realized it. How foolish of me, when she wouldn't even know who I was had I been in my human form. "That's weird." She muttered, trying to get back to her writing. The fog I used for protection began to appear around her and she set the journal on the ground, looking for the source.

She was getting just a little more than weirded out as she stood, waving her arm at me. "Shoo!" The first of many rejections she would supply me with, though neither of knew that just yet. "That's what I thought." She said to herself, turning around- only to find me watching her again from the marble wings of a statue.

Watching me with wide, frightened eyes she knelt to grab her bag before quickly moving to the tree line of the forest. I knew the fog was too thick for her to clearly make out my face, so I allowed my true form to appear, my body hidden mostly behind a statue of an angel. The irony was not lost on me. She stopped, glancing back and her eyes searched for me. I moved quickly into hiding just as she took off green cover of her diary caught my eye and I wondered what to do with it. The air hummed with the presence of my brother and I knew this was not the way I wanted to see him.

The fog was beginning to dissipate so I left, knowing that soon enough I would get my chance to introduce myself properly.

(Elena's POV)

I was surprised to find that the door was unlocked, even more that it was slightly open. Almost as if someone wanted me to come inside. "Stefan?" There was no answer, so I came forward, taking in more of the house as it was presented to me. "Stefan?" The rooms and hallways were mostly dark, even though the tall windows in the den were open. It was intimidating, but beautiful and welcoming at the same time. I thought I heard something or someone behind me so I turned back to the still open door. At first there was nothing and no one, and I thought perhaps I imagined it. Just as my nerves began to settle, a black crow similar to the one I saw in the graveyard swooped in over my head. I ducked out of the way, trying to follow it, but the long, warmth length of a body blocked my path. I looked up, locking on startling blue eyes. He was intimidating, but had a masculine beautiful and I found myself drawn to him almost instantly.

His eyes were unreadable and I felt the need to explain myself. "I'm sorry for barging in. The door was…." When I glanced back over my shoulder, I was surprised to find that the door was tightly shut. "open."

His gaze was steady, as if he was looking deep inside me. If he blinked I didn't notice it, but then it was hard to notice much else when the very smell of him was clouding my judgment. "You must be Elena. I'm Damon, Stefan's brother."

I thought back, wondering if I'd missed that piece of information. I was sure I would never be able to forget someone like him, so why hadn't Stefan mentioned him? "Stefan didn't tell me he had a brother."

The tiniest smile curved the corner of his lips. "Well, Stefan's not one to brag. Please, come." He held out his arm, guiding me into the den. His fingertips brushed against my shoulder, but just barely. "I'm sure Stefan will be along any second."

"Wow, this is your living room?"

"Living room, parlor….Sotheby's Auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste." I hadn't exactly pictured Stefan living in a messy apartment like a bachelor, but I'd never envisioned this. "I see why my brother's so smitten." I'd been hit on by enough guys to know when someone was attracted to me, and I'd been around the block enough times to know when there was undeniable attraction between two people, but this was Stefan's brother and there was just something about him that had me on edge. "It's about time, for a while there I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him."

"The last one?" I wasn't sure if it was just simple confusion in my tone, or the slight jealous hint that he noticed, but he explained a little further.

"Yeah, Katherine…his girlfriend." Now that, I was certain he'd failed to mention. I gave a short shake of my head and Damon smiled. "Oh, you haven't had the awkward ex's conversation yet."

"Nope." I felt a little embarrassed that I didn't know what he was talking about, and that when Stefan did decide to tell me something was clearly a painful memory for him, I would already have a handle on the whole idea- however bleak that handle was.

"Oops." He looked away, not sounding very sorry at all. "I'm sure it will come up now." I glanced up at him, wondering just what he was thinking. The edge he had me on, was the edge of my seat. Standing next to him should have fine, almost relaxing but it was like waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like at any moment all hell would break loose. What was it about him that had my guard up? "Or maybe he didn't tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. We all know how those relationships end."

What he said made sense, but I felt like there was something more to him, perhaps to the story that he was leaving out. He seemed almost too cynical to simply be a protective older brother. "You say it like every relationship is doomed to end."

His eyes did that thing again, made me think things I shouldn't, wonder things I never had before. "I'm a fatalist." There was a slight shrug to his tone, and then a faint smirk. "Hello Stefan."

He looked pissed, a sight I hadn't seen on him before. "Elena," he spoke to me but his eyes were on Damon. "I didn't know you were coming over."

"I know, I should've called. I just-"

"Oh don't be silly." Damon stepped forward, cutting me off. "You're welcome anytime…isn't she Stefan?" when he got no answer, he turned back to me. His smile was quite charming if I let myself sink into it. "I should break out the family photos, or the home movies. But I have to warn you…he wasn't always such a looker."

I found myself smiling back, Stefan's dismissive tone cutting me off before I could speak. It was like he was almost an entirely different person with his brother around. "Thank you for stopping by Elena, it was nice to see you." Still, he was refusing to look at me and I wondered if I'd overstepped some line coming here, or was it just the fact that I'd spoken with Damon that upset him?

It was obvious that he didn't want me here, and while I was never one to be told what to do, I felt my survival instincts forcing me to move away from the obvious brotherly tension that was brewing. "Yeah, I should probably go." It was only Stefan's obvious displeasure at seeing me that had me turning back to smile at his brother. "It was nice to meet you Damon."

He smiled, bowing slightly. When our hands touched I nearly jumped, the shock between our bodies tingling up and down my spine. He seemed unaffected if he even felt it, so I kept my face straight, saying nothing. "Great meeting you too Elena."

I was even more charmed when he pressed his lips to the back of my hand, such an old fashioned gesture warming me slightly. I turned to leave, ignoring the pull to stay I felt. "Stefan?" his eyes were still trained on his brother and even when I repeated his name he didn't look at me, just moved slightly out of the way so I could pass. Was it me he was mad at, or Damon? It was clear he wasn't going to pay any attention to me, so I left- not glancing back at Damon even though something inside of me wanted to. I wouldn't really be that fickle to go for one brother because the first one ignored me. However, even when I'd closed the front door behind me, I found myself leaning against it, waiting for my heart to stop beating so erratically. My skin still tingled on the sport where Damon had pressed his lips to my hand.

(Damon's POV)

"Surprise!" Caroline's chirpy voice was already grating on my nerves heavily, but she was my key into nearly every house in this damn town, her blood was fairly delicious and as long as she behaved herself I would continue to deal with her. "Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so we brought dessert."

"Oh."

"Hope you don't mind." I could tell Elena was a little shocked, but she played her part and smiled sweetly, stepping aside so Caroline could enter. I knew however, that it wouldn't be that easy for me to get in, and thanks to the invisible barrier holding me in place I stayed still.

As if on cue, baby brother came around the corner, a perfect brooding look set in stone on his face. "What are you doing here?"

The answer to that question was not one I could speak aloud in front of the girls, nevermind him. "Waiting for Elena to invite me in."

She smiled, gesturing for me to come forward. "Oh yeah,"

"No, no, no." Stefan shook his head, his eyes hard. I saw the confusion flash across her face, recognized the same expression from the day we met. Baby brother had to chill out a little or she was going to get even more suspicious. "He…he can't…he can't stay." She looked at me as if hoping I would give her some hint as to what was going on. "Can you, Damon."

Stefan and I shared a look and I found that once again it would be marvelous if I could use my compulsion on him. Thankfully, Caroline saved me, proving her worth to live another day. "Get in here."

"We're just finishing up." Stefan tried again, but Elena dismissed him- her stubborn streak working to my advantage.

"It's fine, just come on in." her smile was sweet and warm and for a moment she reminded me of Katherine. At least the show Katherine put on for the world. When she'd been out in public she'd been cavity sweet, always smiling with gracious manners, but I knew that as soon as you got her behind closed doors she turned wanton and wild.

Looking at Elena now, I wondered just how far the apple fell from the tree. Smiling, I felt the threshold release and stepped through, careful not to brush Stefan as I slid through the opening between them. I was in, one step closer… "You have a beautiful home Elena."

"Thank you." She smiled, looking down at the dessert in her hands almost desperately. I glanced at Caroline and without hesitation, she took the dish from Elena and moved into the kitchen, chattering about something at a million miles an hour. I blocked it out, knowing I would have to listen to more of it later and turned to smirk at my brother. If we'd been in a cartoon, I was sure there would have been smoke coming out of his ears.

A little while later, I found Elena in the kitchen- thankfully alone. "One more."

She ran her fingers through her hair, turning to smile at me. "Oh, thank you." As she reached out for it, I let it drop a few inches, 'miraculously' saving it a foot from the ground. She laughed, clearly charmed. Her smile hit me, nearly stabbed right to my soul but I only smirked. "Nice save."

"I like you," I said, pointing at her and walking over to the dishwasher. Over time I'd learned the way to a woman's heart could take many paths, but helping with the clean up was always a safe bet. "you know how to laugh." It was true, even now her laugh was still ringing in my ears like a siren's song and for the first time in a long time I found myself aching to make someone laugh. "You make Stefan smile, which is something I haven't seen in a _very _long time."

There was a slight hint of sadness in her eyes, but it was gone before I could decide if it was for herself or him. "Earlier, did you mean Katherine?"

"Mhmm." I took the plate she was trying to load and set it for her.

"How did she die?"

"Fire." I remembered that night, could never forget it. The smell of the church going up in flames as I watched, my very insides burning as I began my transition into the monster Stefan would later force me to become. "Tragic fire."

"Recently?"

I couldn't very well tell her it had been over a hundred years ago, so I tried a pained smile and leaned back against the counter. "Seems like it was yesterday."

"What was she like?"

That question always hurt a little since it caused him to think about her. Elena must have noticed the flash of pain over my face because her features softened, surprisingly making me feel quite comfortable. "She was beautiful, a lot like you in that department." Understatement. Of. The. Century. "She was also very complicated, selfish…at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive."

She thought for a moment, smiling knowingly as she handed me a yellow plate. "So…which one of you dated her first?"

I smiled, laughing and quite impressed she'd figured it all out so quickly. "Nicely deduced." I bent to close the dishwasher. "Ask Stefan, I'm sure his answer differs from mine." I watched her walk to the island, admiring the long lines of her body. She was small, but sturdy and I was sure that with a little working out she could have been quite the threat. She wasn't meant for this town, this life she'd been stuck into, but I doubted she was ready to accept that yet. There was an entire world she didn't know about yet, even though it was right under her nose and I didn't have the dead heart to tell her the truth. At least, not yet. "I'd quit cheerleading if I was you."

"Why do you say that?"

I moved to sit on a stool, folding the napkins with her, even though under different circumstances, Damon Salvatore would never be caught dead folding laundry. "Oh, I saw you at practice. You looked miserable."

"You saw that?" she sighed, the charade apparently up to at least me.

"Am I wrong?"

"I used to love it." she sounded like she was trying to convince herself instead of me. "It was fun…but this year is different. Everything that used to matter doesn't anymore."

"So don't let it." I said quickly, glancing up at her. "Quit, move on. Problem solved. Ta da!"

She laughed a little, looking back down. "Some things could matter again."

"Maybe, but seems a little unrealistic to me."

She nodded, her expression thoughtful. For a moment, it looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders, but whatever thoughts she had running through her mind were quickly pushed away when she looked back up at me. "I'm sorry…" her apology confused me for a moment, but I listened anyway, wondering what she could possibly be sorry for. "about Katherine. You lost her too."

No one had ever said that to me. Not ever. I wanted to thank her, to say something back. Hell, for a tiny moment I wanted to tell her everything, for if she could get me as easily as that, what wouldn't she be able to understand but then the Bonnie girl came into the room and stole Elena's attention. "Sure." I wasn't dismissed from the room, but I did need space so I excused myself and left the kitchen. Any plan to simply fuck the girl that looked like Katherine, perhaps release a little frustration had been tossed out the window, at least for the moment.

Later that night, when I was sitting up in bed unable to sleep I found myself unable to resist poking into her dream. It was basically what I had expected, her silly school girl fantasy of making out with my brother. At first, I stood in the shadows of her room, watching like the sick pervert I was, but when she pulled her shirt off, and Stefan moved to remove his, I interfered. Her reaction, when it was my face, my body beneath hers shocked me a little. She screamed, crawling off me and moving quickly away. I'd have been lying to say that didn't hurt and quickly I pulled out of the dream, relinquishing the control of her brain back to her. So, she could flirt with me and smile at me in the kitchen, but she couldn't indulge in a little fantasy?

Losing myself in thoughts of my own, I decided that changing her mind on that simple fact, that earning a new reaction all together would be my new goal.

The next night, I found her in the nearly deserted parking lot. I was never one for watching football, my only desire to be here was to prove to myself that her reaction would not be the same in real life. The shock, that's all her dream had been. Even still, I could remember the scream and the fear in her eyes. This time, she wouldn't resist me, this time I would have the upper hand. I moved silently, stopping directly behind her. When she turned from slamming the door down, she gasped- nearly running into me. "You scared me, what-what are you doing here?"

I lowered my voice conspiratorially and smirked. "I'm hiding from Caroline."

She played along, an excellent sign for me even though I could tell she was less than impressed. "And why is that?"Apparently the dream was effecting her just as much as me. Before the moments we'd shared had been flirty, if not all light but there was something different about this girl now. Perhaps Stefan had said something, told her something about their past.

"I needed a break. She…talks more than I can listen."

"That could be a sign." She hinted, and I got the distinct impression that she wanted me to go away, or at least that she wanted to escape. It was such a drastic change from dinner last night.

"Well, she's…she's awfully young."

"Not much younger than you are." She contradicted, and I tried to hold back a laugh.

_If only you knew…_ "I don't see it going anywhere in the bigger picture." I clarified, hoping that my 'honesty' would soothe over whatever damage had been done to the little thing we had going. "I think she'd drive me crazy."

"Caroline does have some really annoying traits, but we've been friends since the first grade, and that means something to me."

_Shit, this is not working. Throwing the best friend under the bus….probably not the best idea. What was the silly saying girls used? Chicks before dicks? _"Dually noted." I straightened up, hoping I sounded sincere. "I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable. That's not my intention."

"Yes it is. Otherwise, you wouldn't put an alternate meaning behind everything you say."

Damn. This girl really had me figured out. I wasn't sure if that was still impressive or getting to become slightly annoying. "You're right. I do have other intentions…but so do you."

"Really?" her tone was daring, and I just couldn't help falling for it. I just prayed that she would fall for it too. "I see you, you want me."

"Excuse me?"

She sounded pretty damn convincing, I even paused for a moment. Perhaps compulsion was going to have to be the answer here. "I get to you, you find yourself drawn to me…you think about me even when you don't wanna think about me. I bet you've even dreamed about me." That struck a nerve in her but she didn't speak, and to my surprise she didn't deny anything. I focused all my strength into the compulsion, making sure our eyes were connected perfectly. "And right now, you want to kiss me."

She didn't move, she didn't blink and I was sure that I had her under my control. I leaned forward, feeling quite cocky about everything when suddenly the white hot pain of her slap registered on my face and I had to hold off from staggering back. Sure, I was strong, but there was something to be said for a girl that could slap. I was right, she did have some fight in her. "What the hell?" I was almost to shocked to listen to what she was saying but there was something about her that held my attention. "I don't know what game you're trying to play with Stefan here, but I don't want to be part of it." I reached up to massage my chin, amazed at just how much that had hurt. "And I don't know what happened in the past, but let's get one thing straight; I am not Katherine."

I wasn't sure how it was possible, but that had only made me want her more. I suppose I was a sucker for punishment, and the sick twisted side of me was in for whatever punishment she could give. A few hours later, I found myself sneaking into her room, relieved to find that she was asleep. Like this, she was calm and beautiful. My stinging face found it a nice contrast to the fiery vixen I'd discovered in the parking lot. If I'd thought Katherine was complicated, I was about to be surprised. Surely, a woman that had a few hundred years on this one held more baggage than a simple teenage girl, but there was definitely more to Elena than what met the eye. I reached out, unable to help myself from finally feeling her skin. It was even softer than I'd imagined.

I considered reaching into her subconscious, seeing what she was dreaming about now, but her heart beat had already begun to pick up; a sign that she was awaking. With one last glance I moved to the window. This girl was certainly going to make my undead life more interesting.

_a/n: I can't promise that EVERY Delena moment will be covered, but I will do the important ones. If you're enjoying this and want more please let me know. If you would like to see the banner I made for this fic go to my livejournal account petrova39. I think you'll all really like it _


	2. Chapter 2

_a/n: For me, I am finding that this is a great exercise to get inside the characters. Going back now and re-watching everything has really given me an appreciation for where everyone has come from. I remember when I first watched the show, I hated to love Damon because he was just so evil. He would do something incredible to make me love him, and then something despicable. Because I'd never read the books and all I had to go on for information was what the show gave us each week, I was immediately enraptured. I hope that these scenes (whilst somewhat repetive- since you've already watched them) give you a new insight into the inner workings of Delena, and perhaps the next time you watch the scene you will notice something new. Happy Reading_

Back to the Beginning pt 2

(Damon's POV)- Lockwood Mansion

"I want to apologize to you for being such a…world class…jerk, the other night when I tried to kiss you. There's no excuse." I spoke quickly, wishing that displeased, near bored look would leave her pretty face. She looked too much like Katherine and I couldn't stand it. "My therapist says I'm acting out…trying to punish Stefan."

I spiked her curiosity, that was obvious. "For what?"

"It's all in the past, I don't even want to bring it up. Let's just say that the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry. It all started with the original Salvatore brothers." It wasn't exactly a lie after all. Even though we were the same men that had written our names on the list, lifetimes had passed. I barely even recognized that Damon when I thought back. "They were practically royalty in this town…until the war. There was a battle here-"

She nodded, interrupting me. "The Battle of Willow Creek." Her knack for impressing me struck once again and I couldn't help but to smile.

"Right."

"I know, we talked about it in class. Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside." She sounded almost bored, and compared to the true history of that night what she'd been taught did sound rather boring. The vampires that had burned in that church could hardly be called civilians…but that was the beauty of history. Hardly any of it was true by the time it got told, retold and written down on paper then fed to sleepy, half stoned students in a high school that didn't really care anyway.

Of course, I couldn't tell her that but I found myself correcting her as safely as I could. "What the history books left out, was that the people that were killed- they weren't there by accident. They were believed to be Union sympathizers, so some of the Founders on the Confederacy side wanted them rounded up and burned alive." I moved toward the model of Fell's Church, Elena following me with her eyes and her body. I had her full attention and I was going to milk it for all that our time together was worth. "Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in that church, and when they went to rescue them, they were…shot." I could still remembering the searing pain as the bullet shot into me, then the burn and then…nothing. I'd died almost instantly and the last thing I saw had been my brother's face. "Murdered in cold blood." I decided to keep out the fact that it was our father that had killed us, even that detail was too morbid for me to repeat.

"Who was in the church that they wanted to save?"

"A woman, I guess." I looked at her, seeing the glow of life on her face. No, she was definitely nothing like Katherine. "Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?"

"Look, I'm sorry that you and Stefan have this thing between the two of you, but I can't get in the middle of it." Definitely, not Katherine…I couldn't help smiling. "I just…I hope you two can work it out."

I felt like saying after 145 years it was probably impossible, but doubted that would be an quick, easy conversation to finish. "I hope so too."

Her smile told me she believed I was sincere and for the moment, charmed. I had her back in my good graces but only for the matter of a few minutes. I smiled as she came down the stairs, until I noticed just how angry she was. Her time in the bathroom with Caroline had undoubtedly ruined whatever respect he'd earned back. She shoved hard at me chest with both fists, barely budging me from my spot. Fire flashed in her eyes and unfortunately I couldn't help imagining those very eyes flashing like that as we tangled up a set of sheets. Caroline had barely been satisfying me as it was, and the connection between Elena and I was getting harder not to feel. "There is something seriously wrong with you. You stay away from Caroline or I will go straight to her mother; the sheriff. You got it? Stay away from her!"

The spark of her passionate anger had me looking after her as she stormed off. If I hadn't had to deal with Caroline I would have gone after her, perhaps even tried to see if I could get away with tasting that fire.

(Elena's POV) Gilbert House

I hadn't seen Damon since the night I found out he'd been abusing Caroline. At the time I honestly thought that could have been the worst thing I'd ever found out about him. However, now that I knew about him and Stefan, about who they really were I had never been more afraid of anyone or anything in my life. I tried to keep the door shut, but even all the strength of both her arms couldn't hold his single hand off. It looked almost effortless for him to push the door open. "Jeremy, go upstairs." I spoke through gritted teeth, keeping my eyes trained on Damon as if he was the murderous villain he was.

"You're afraid of me." He smirked, thinking he looked sexy. His cocky charm was not going to work on me, not tonight- not ever. "I'm gonna go out here on a limb here, and guess. Stefan finally fessed up."

"Stay away from me." He was the last person I wanted to see right now, but I knew better than to slam the door in his face even though he'd now released his hold on it.

"There's no need to be rude, I'm just looking for Stefan." Did he really think that charm was going to work on me after everything that had happened? "Can I come in? Oh wait, of course I can…I've been invited." As he brushed past me I now understood just why Stefan had acted so strange the night he and Caroline had come to the door and I regretted inviting him in, but it was too late now. He shut the door, looking around and even though he wasn't circling me I somehow still felt like nervous prey. "We can cut to the chase if you want; I'm not going to kill you right now. That wouldn't serve my greater agenda. So," now he was definitely the villain. Everything about him was dark and for the first time I was actually afraid of him. "where is Stefan?"

"He's out looking for Vicki." He might scare me, but that wouldn't stop me from being malicious and less than sweet.

"Don't look at me with those judgy little eyes." He backed me against the stairwell and I wondered if he could hear my heart beating like a hammer in my chance. "That girl is gonna thank me for what I did to her."

"Did you thank Katherine?" there was a flash of pain in his face and he stepped back. The look was gone and quickly replaced with his smirk that I was quickly realizing was his trademark look.

"Got the whole life story huh?" He kept his back to me and I wondered what he was hiding from me, what he couldn't mask on his face.

"I got enough." I said, stepping forward- not liking at all the way it felt to be cornered in my own house. I just wanted him gone so I could run upstairs and call Stefan.

"Oh, I doubt that." There was something about the way he said that, that made me believe there was more to the story but he didn't give me a chance to ask anything he fulfilled my wish. "Tell my brother I'm looking for him." I thought he would actually leave it at that, but just before the door swung shut he stuck his head back through, and looked right at me- perhaps even through me. "Oh, tip for later. Be careful who you invite into the house." Then he left me with a smirk and more questions than answers.

(Damon's POV) Salvatore Boarding House

I could hear her heart beating through the wood even before she knocked on the door. I knew that she wasn't here to see me, or if she was it would be with a stake in her hand. No doubt this girl's knowledge of vampires had grown from Buffy reruns and the ridiculous Twilight movies. I made sure there was a devilish smirk on my face before pulling open the door. I was right, she did look less then pleased to see me, but there was no stake in sight. "Is Stefan here?"

"Yep."

She looked determined, pissed and ready for a fight. Good, I'd come to admire our little back and forth bickering as of late. I would have to see if I could make it a daily occurrence. "Where is he?"

The impatience in her voice only made me want to detour her longer, but I was on my way out. A few more minutes wouldn't kill either of us. "And good morning to you; Little Miss 'I'm On A Mission'."

"How can you be so arrogant and glib after everything you've done?" she crossed her arms, probably having no idea how the movement caused her breasts to strain slightly against her shirt. Would he skin be tanned beneath her clothes? I ached to know but the bickering was almost too much fun to risk finding out.

"And how can you be so brave, and _stupid _to call a vampire arrogant and glib." She was obviously still pissed about what had happened with…oh fuck, what was her name…Veronica? No…Niki? No…hmmm.

"If you wanted me dead, I'd be dead."

"Yes," I nodded, looking her right in the eyes. That was very true. "you would."

"But I'm not." She answered, sounding all high and mighty.

"Yet." I had a few ideas of how to pull her off that high horse, but they would take more time than I had to give her at the moment.

"Where is Stefan?" she asked again, the mention of my baby brother completely killing the mood we'd built up so quickly.

With a sigh, I let the bickering go- for now. "He's upstairs…singing the rain in Spain. Knock yourself out."

She didn't move to come in, so I moved out. Careful not to brush her as I stepped past her, but close enough to make sure that she felt the heat from my body. I sure as hell knew I could feel the heat from hers. The morning sunlight welcomed me into the day and I couldn't help grinning. For all that had happened the past few weeks, things were moving at a fairly fast pace. Elena may hate me, I may have a new vampire to take care of…ah! Vicky! But everyday had me one step closer to Katherine. She shut the door behind me, and I had to laugh at the sound of the lock turning. _Silly girl, if I really wanted in a simple lock wouldn't keep me out. _

(Elena's POV) Mystic Falls High School

As I stared down at the dead body of Viki, the bite on my next burning, the wound on my side stinging, I remembered how simple last Halloween had been. I was in the same costume, but life was incredibly more complicated tonight than the last time I wore the ridiculous white latex dress. It was stained with blood now, I could smell it. Knew that I would have to burn it, or at least throw it out. One high school dance, one night. Was that too much to ask for now? So my boyfriend was a vampire, I could handle that. Hell, I could even except that his brother was one too. But my ex boyfriends sister, that had happened to be involved with my brother? I suppose, she wasn't really a vampire now- not now that she was dead. Stefan had killed her, that was the truth; but he'd done it to save me, to save Jeremy. I heard Damon's footsteps coming closer. What had he done? Nothing but create all this drama in the first place.

"You should go, I got this." He sounded so arrogant, so cocky…so nonchalant about it all. Did he not realize what he'd just done? To all of us?

I pushed myself up, all the anger and frustration that I'd been pushing down boiled to the surface. "You did this, this is your fault." My voice was shaking, but I knew my eyes were strong.

"You confuse me for someone with remorse." He barely looked at me, completely not caring about anyone or anything but himself. I could have screamed, I could have killed him. I was sure of it, but all I could do was push him away with all my might. My strength meant nothing to him, barely even budged him. That pissed me off more, so I moved to slap him. I could remember how good it felt to hit him, the sting against my palm the only proof that he'd felt anything. This time however, he saw it coming and grabbed my wrists. "None of this matters to me," My arm bent painfully, but he released me quickly enough. "none of it." It was almost as if he didn't want to hurt me, so now I was angry, hurt and confused.

"People die around you. How could it not matter?" I wanted to hit him again, but I couldn't be sure he would be so forgiving a third time around. There was nothing stopping him from feeding me his blood and snapping my neck. There was no one around to protect me, no one to stop him. "It matters and you know it!"

He was looking down, and I took the opportunity anyway. I slapped him, and hard. I could see the outline of my fingers on his cheek but other than the dark intensity of his eyes and the anger that was boiling beneath them he showed no signs that it had hurt. My fear climbed a few notches as he looked at me and I moved away slightly. He was a monster, a careless- heartless monster that would as soon kill me as kiss me. He took what he wanted and if he wanted me dead out of sheer boredom I was sure he would do it. "Mmm," he was clearly fighting, with himself more so then me. "You need to leave." I saw the change in his eyes, saw the monster step back as whatever fraction of humanity still remained in him took power for a moment. "You're wounds are bleeding, and you need to leave."

He said each word carefully, as if the weight of the world was on each of them. I'd pushed my luck enough- at least my feet seemed to think so because I was walking away before I had the chance to think anymore. I could trust that he would get rid of Vicki- if only to cover his own ass. I knew that I had to get my own grief and frustration out before I went home and dealt with Jeremy. If I was this distraught over what happened, I couldn't even imagine how he felt. Once I was in the safety of my car I let go. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think. I just cried and beat the steering wheel. Damon Salvatore wouldn't get away with this, and I would never forgive him for it. He didn't deserve my forgiveness.

A couple hours later, I found myself on the porch with Stefan. "How's he doing?"

"He's a mess. I don't want him going through this again…he's just a kid." I couldn't stand it anymore, I couldn't stand seeing my little brother in this kind of pain. We'd barely gotten over our parents accident…and now this? It wasn't fair to either of us, but especially not him.

Stefan made me feel safe and when he reached out to me I knew eventually it would be okay. "Elena, what can I do? What can I do to help? I'll do anything."

I didn't know what to tell him, what to even tell Jeremy. I just wanted his pain to go away, then I remembered something that might help… "Can you make him forget?"

He shook his head, looking almost as hopeless as I felt. "Elena I-"

"Stefan, please. I don't know how he'll ever get past this. I just want him to forget everything that happened."

"If I did it there's no guarantee that it will work. Because of who I am…because of how I live, I don't have the ability to do it right."

My heart fell to my stomach, not knowing what I could do next. My brother was upstairs devastated and the one person I thought could help couldn't do a damn thing. Then, I heard _his _voice. "I can do it, if this is what you want." I turned to look at Damon, thinking of how awful he was, how it had been him that had caused all this pain. Would he really do that for me? Offer to take it all away for nothing in exchange? Was there a catch, or was this his way of trying to make it up to me, trying to make me forgive him? He walked toward me, quite determined. "I'll do it."

I felt torn, not sure that I could trust him but knowing that he was my only answer. I looked back at Stefan, hoping for some sign that I was doing the right thing. His expression gave me no answer in either direction. "It's what I want."

"What do you want him to know?" this was a side of Damon that I wasn't really used to. A side that I could almost learn to trust one day, if he kept it up. This would be his chance, his one shot and earning a margin of my respect back. I didn't trust easily and while I'd never really trusted him to begin with I had felt a certain draw to him. Perhaps that was why his discretions had hurt me so badly, why I was disappointed in him.

"I want you to tell him that Vicki left town, and she's not coming back. That he shouldn't look for her, or worry about her. He's gonna miss her, but he knows it's for the best." He nodded, glancing at his brother before going in the house. When I looked back, Stefan was sitting on the swing and I moved next to him. "Part of me wishes that I could forget too. Forget meeting you, finding out what you are and everything that's happened since."

"If that's what you want."

"Yes, because I don't want it to be like this. I don't want to feel like this, but I can't…with everything that's happened I don't want to lose how I feel about you."

Damon came out then, looking at me with an expression I couldn't quite read. I wondered just how much he'd heard of what I'd said, but I didn't ask. I needed some space, some time away from all this. I needed to check on Jeremy. It wasn't until the door was closed and I was halfway upstairs that I began to breathe again.

(Damon's POV) The Grill

It would have taken a blind man to miss the long legs, long blonde hair, the dark eyes that was currently making up the woman my brother was spending his evening with. Even for me it was hard to deny that Lexi was…well sexy. Just this morning in Stefan's bed I'd had the momentary pleasure of fantasizing what it would be like to roll in the hay with a vampire again, especially now that I would be able to keep up with her. Then she'd 'kindly' reminded my why she and I could never- would never be a thing. Her heart, whilst mostly platonic had always belonged to Stefan. It had been that way since his first Ripper days, and when I'd turned my back on him, she'd been the one to bring him back from the depths of hell. Something I could never do.

It also would have taken a blind man to miss the obviously jealous brunette sitting a few feet away from me. Her dark brown eyes were trained on them, watchful but keeping a respectable distance. I could see from the look on Elena's face that she wasn't quite sure of what kind of connection these two had, but that it was important. When she realized I was looking at her, she rolled her eyes. The aura around her instantly shifted from confused jealousy, to guards up anger. She would like nothing more to see me staked at this point, apparently still not forgiving me for what I'd done to Vicki, even though I'd spared her brother a lifetimes worth of pain. "Stefan smiles, alert the media."

I moved next to her, the smell of her shampoo, her fabric softener, her perfume all coming together to tickle my nose and tempt my fangs. Just how good would she taste? "You haven't given him a lot of reasons to be happy lately."

Oh yeah, we were arguing- not fantasizing about ripping her clothes off. "Oh you're right. Poor Stefan! Persecuted throughout eternity by his depraved brother." She sighed, clearly set to ignore me and keep her jealous eyes focused on them. I could think of a few ways to distract her from what baby brother was up to, but she wouldn't go for any of them, at least not while that vervain was still around her neck. "Does it get tiring? Being so righteous?"

She smirked- to the best of her ability and I could the beats of her heart begin to pound a little more dramatically. "It flairs up in the presence of psychopaths."

She was walking away, that was not allowed. Not until I was done having the last word at least. "Well consider this psychopaths feelings hurt."

She stopped, turning back with those judgy little eyes again. "What did you do with my brother?"

"I'm gonna need a less vague question."

"When you did what you did, to Jeremy's memory. Of Vicki." She brushed her hair back from her face, my own fingers itching to reach out and touch her. Luckily for her she was well out of range, not that I couldn't fix that in a split second. "What else did you do to him?"

I knew that moving at my vampire speeds would only frighten her, so I opted for the less menacing, more sexy saunter and approached her slowly. Why did it always feel like I was chasing her? Even when we were in the same room and having a conversation, she would always try to distance herself from me, and then we were caught in a epic cat and mouse game. Probably would be until one of us surrendered- and it wasn't going to be me. "You asked me, to take away his memory of fangs and 'rawr' and all the bad stuff. You wanted me to take away his suffering."

Was she really going to be mad at me for this? For doing something that she asked me to? Something that was better for the little drug abusing brat? Had I not fixed him and gotten him to be exactly the baby brother that she'd always wanted? "But he's acting different. He's seems okay, with everything, and a little too okay. He's studying, he's not doing drugs, he's not drinking. Are you sure you didn't do something else?"

"Elena, I took away his suffering." She had to realize there was more to the meaning than the simple words. Maybe one day she would be able to really thank me for what I had done.

(Elena's POV) The Grill

It was a little hard to believe that I'd been so jealous of this girl before. Granted the first time I saw her, she was in a towel- but I'd been watching her and Stefan interact all night and I could see that her love for him was pure, personal, but very friendship oriented. I had no reason to fear her relationship with Stefan anymore than he had to fear mine and Matt's. She was obviously intoxicated at the moment, but there was something about her tone that made me sit up and listen to her. "Take it from someone that's been around a long time; when it's real- you can't walk away."

I laughed as she downed another shot and slid herself back from the bar. "Hey Lexi. It was really nice meeting you."

She made a funny face, her eyebrows rising as if she knew just how incredible she was. Then the expression dissolved into a smile. I watched her go, wondering if I would ever be as wise as she was. She'd been dealing with the Salvatore brothers for over a hundred years. She knew the ins and outs of their brotherhood, and she knew more about Stefan than I could possibly imagine. Would he and I ever be able to have a connection like that? Would I ever be able to have that with anyone? A while later, Stefan and I raced to find where Sheriff Forbes had taken Lexi. I heard the gunshots first as we came around the corner, then suddenly Damon appeared out of nowhere.

I felt Stefan's body shake beneath mine, felt the complete stillness of shock and anger as he watched his brother plunge a wood stake into her chest.

I gasped, but Stefan grabbed me, covering my mouth and pulling me against the wall with him. We watched as Damon twisted the stake and Lexi's glowing skin turned gray and cold. The tell tale veins of her existence darkened and she fell to the ground; the undead now very dead. I watched as Damon turned to Liz then, his concern for her safety sounding very sincere. She asked him to put 'it' in the trunk. I had no idea what they would do with Lexi's body and the look on Stefan's face kept me from asking. Either he knew and didn't want to think about it, or he was to afraid to find out himself. When the patrol car had left with Damon and Lix inside it, Stefan took off. I hesitated for a moment, my eyes unable to leave the scene, even though it had been cleaned up now.

I felt cold, and scared, and angry. It was like Damon wanted us to hate him, to be torn between letting him live and die. When I'd first met him, he was sweet. Then I discovered he was an abusive boyfriend, then a monster. He turned Vicki into a vampire, only to remove the pain from my brother. The constant back and forth of good and evil was confusing me and I wasn't entirely sure which half was the real Damon, and which was the façade he put on for the world to see. Honestly, it could have been either. I chased after Stefan, thankful that he hadn't tapped into his vampire speed. At this rate, I still would be able to catch up with him. He'd just watched his brother murder his best friend, and the last thing I could do right now is leave him alone to deal with it all.

"Stefan." I reached for his arm but he pushed me away. Even in the short time we'd known each other I hadn't seen him like this. Intense pain, heartache. I didn't know what to say, how to comfort him. I felt hopeless. The only person that would know how to fix him like this was gone, and perhaps he recognized that just as I did.

"He killed her. He killed Zack, he killed Tanner- he turned Vicki. I have to kill him."

Fear rose up in my chest, set my heart on a panic beating. "No, you can't do that!"

"Why are you trying to save him Elena?" Stefan turned on me, I could tell he was on the verge of a complete breakdown, but I had to make him see some reason. "He's never gonna change that, don't you see? He's never gonna change!"

"I'm not trying to save him, I'm trying to save you. You have no idea what this will do to you." I reached for him again, and this time he didn't pull away. "Please Stefan."

"Everywhere I go, pain and death follow. Damon follows me." He shook his head, moving away again. "No more."

"Stefan please, please just- just talk to me. Let me be here for you. Talk to me."

"No. You were right to stay away from me."

This time when he moved away, I didn't stop him and I didn't go after him. Something kept me in place, and I stayed there until he was in the car and gone.

(Damon's POV) Mystic Falls High School

The bonding brotherly time with Stefan was nice, heartwarming even to the slow, cold dead thing in my chest- but there was something underlying behind his motives that had me on edge. Even as he moved quickly backwards across the field with the ball in his hands I couldn't help smiling. The bottle I was holding wasn't nearly empty yet, a sign that I wasn't nearly drunk enough to deal with whatever cooked up plan he had brewing. "What are we doing here?"

"Bonding. Catch." He threw it at me halfheartedly and I caught with one hand. I wanted to give into him, and that was perhaps what kept me from playing along just yet. For being the untrustworthy brother everyone assumed I was, Stefan was not as far behind me in the talent of lying. I tossed it back at him, only to find it back in my arms. "Come on."

I set the bottle on the ground, lining up the shot through the mostly dark field. The goal lights were bright, but the line was still fairly hidden by shadows. "Don't forget who taught you how to play this game." I threw as hard as I could, gaining a lot more distance than I ever could have when we were human. I ran after the ball, reaching it in a second, but with the lack of blood in my system thanks to the promise not to feed I'd agreed to this morning, Stefan was almost as fast as me. I felt the wind knocked out of me as he sent me to the ground with his tackle. It had been a long time since I'd felt human pain, and aside from the stake he'd driven into me last night out of rage from me killing Lexi, I hadn't allowed myself to get hurt…physically at least. I coughed, my hand over my ribs protectively as the ball landed somewhere over our heads. "Oh, that hurt."

Stefan laughed. "Downside of my diet; getting hit actually hurts a little bit."

"Whew." I sighed, looking up at the dark sky. Bonding was over the night, and it was time he came clean. "I'm impressed Stefan. Fun with booze and darts, sentimental with football- and now," I wiggled my fingers, the acid sarcasm clear in my tone. "a starry night." I sat up, looking down at him with determination. The brotherly moment had long since ended now. "What do you want Stefan?"

He sat up to, pausing as if he was trying to decide how best to introduce his speech. "None of it was real, Damon. Our love for Katherine."

"Oh God." I sighed, smiling from the sheer obviousness of it all. He was so predictable.

"She compelled us, we didn't have a choice." He'd been trying to convince me of this for the past hundred years, and tonight was not going to be his lucky night, no matter how convincing he sounded. I would not agree to believe something that would break the very reason I continued to exist. "It took me years to understand that, to truly sort out what she did to us."

"Oh no Stefan," I pushed myself up; needing to get away from him. I'd allowed myself to get distracted for too long, and it was obvious that he was not going to be any help to me whatsoever. My idea to let him in on the plan had been fleeting, but hopeful. Now it had crashed. He either didn't remember what being with Katherine was like, or Elena had just screwed with his head so much the past few months that he didn't want to remember. "we are not getting into that tonight."

He let me get about halfway back to the bottle of scotch, before his words stopped me. Seems that baby brother did know more than he was letting on. "What do you want with Katherine's crystal?"

"How do you know about that?"

He stood, clearly now the determined one. We were in a face off, and I found myself realizing that I didn't want to fight with him. I just wanted my brother to join me, but it was clear that was never going to happen. "Come on, you knew Elena would tell me." He'd chosen his side, and we were just going to have to deal with that.

"How'd you know it was Katherine's? Emily gave it to her on her last night." I smirked, remembering exactly how she'd smelled, how she'd looked. "I was with her, and you…weren't."

He hesitated, knowing that the next words would hurt me. "I was the last one to see her Damon." So, the truth was finally coming out, even after all these years. What? Had the selfish bitch hopped from one bed to the next? Or was it us she had just compelled into a wonderful schedule of one after the other? "Now what do you want with Katherine's crystal?"

"She didn't tell you?" I tried hard to regain control of the situation, but it was quickly faltering.

"We had other things on our mind."

I'd been well aware that we'd shared her, but never had we talked about it so bluntly. What was obvious, was just that. It didn't need to be said, yet here he was- almost rubbing it in my face. And blatantly too, like he was trying to make me snap. I'd never allowed myself to picture what they would have looked like together, but his words made the images appear all on their own. I felt the pain of realization but quickly turned it into a white hot rage of jealously that shot through me, causing me to rush in front of him. "I could rip your heart out, and not think twice about it."

He didn't even blink, and I wondered perhaps if I was losing my touch. "Yeah, I've heard that before."

Alright fine, he knew I wouldn't kill him- but that didn't mean he had me all figured out. I rolled my eyes, feigning indifference and backed away. "I have a bigger surprise Stefan." I turned to walk away, considering leaving it at that- but the boy had been patient enough and his bonding trip had earned him a little more. I turned back slightly, the smirk and the power back on my face. "I'm gonna bring her back."

_a/n: sorry, this one was a little longer than the first chapter- and there wasn't much Delena action, but like the title says; every second matters. Each and every moment Damon and Elena spend apart or together is leading them to be the Delena that we know and love. I hope you're still enjoying this._


	3. Chapter 3

_a/n: I'm so relieved that many of you are enjoying this look back with me. I will definitely keep it going until the end of season 3, so you may expect some delay between the last chapter to the second last one since the finale won't be till may and I doubt it will take me two months to complete this fic. If you want I can try and slow it down to make the ending a little smoother for you all. _

_Just a heads up to my regular readers and reviewers, I will be 'off the grid' for a few weeks in April. I've been writing like crazy for almost a year now and I need a break. I feel like I'm running out of steam a bit and I think the recuperation time will do us all good. Also, I will be going on the 100__th__ Anniversary Titanic Cruise with my mother for my birthday where we will be spending a day in New York and then on the ship for about a week. It's very exciting for me so I've decided with all that and now reaching my 100__th__ fic I have deemed myself worthy of a break haha. For now though, I will continue to update this and accept any and all requests. After my trip and I am home, we will be right back to regularly scheduled one shots and perhaps even the sequel for 'Time of Our Love'._

_I apologize for the long note. Happy Reading. _

Back to the Beginning pt 3

(Damon's POV)- Fell's Church Site

"Hello Emily." I said, once I saw Bonnie's body through the tree line. Witches and their fickleness; that I could deal with- but if she thought she was going to back out of our deal she had another thing coming. "You look different."

"I won't let you do it."

Anger flared inside me and I had to resist the urge to strike out at her. "We had a deal."

"Things are different now. I need to protect my family."

"I protected your family!" Securing the Bennett witch line certainly hadn't been my favorite hobby over the last hundred years, but I'd done it- all for this moment. I wasn't going to let her ruin everything now, I couldn't. This was my last chance to get Katherine free, no one and nothing was going to get in my way. "You owe me."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"You're about to be a lot more than that." I lunged at her, but the strong, hard force of her protection spell had me flying back. I felt the sharp pain of a branch pierce my body, wondering if she'd missed on purpose. Either way the 'stake' hurt like hell. She didn't make a move to get me down, only found another branch and began carving some kind of shape into the dirt. I heard the familiar footsteps of Stefan, relieved when my brother finally pulled me from the tree. "Oh, that hurts." I cursed, knowing I was whining, but that witchy bitch had damn near killed me. "This is why I feed on people."

"Stefan." It was Bonnie's body, her voice but she had a distinct tone about her. The way she moved, the expression on her face. It was clear that this was not Bonnie we were dealing with.

"Hello Emily." Stefan looked up at her, ready to mediate. Always the peace loving brother- well when he wasn't creating war by stealing the woman I was in love with of course.

She seemed to feel a bit safer now that she was here. "These people don't deserve this, they should never have to know such evil."

"What do you mean, evil?" Stefan moved toward her, knowing there was more to the story.

I pushed myself up, doing my best to ignore the stinging pain. She couldn't tell him, he would definitely stop it. "Emily, I swear to God- I will make you regret this."

"I won't let you unleash them into this world." She glared at me, and I gave up on the idea of standing for the moment. There was no guarantee she would miss this time if I pissed her off again.

"Them?" Stefan stood in the middle of us, looking back and forth for answers. "What part of the story did you leave out Damon?"

"What does it matter?" I wondered if it was possible for one to still look cocky and arrogant crouched on the ground in pain- somehow I seriously doubted it.

"Emily, tell me what you did." Stefan was stubborn, always had been. Baby brother was going to ruin everything, I just knew it.

"To save her, I had to save them."

"You saved everyone in the church!" there was a hint of panic in his voice, and I knew that any hope of getting Stefan on my side was gone.

"With one, comes all." Emily's psycho babble was getting old and fast. Was it impossible for her to speak in full, complete sentences?

"I don't care about them," I grabbed onto Stefan's arm, using his stability to pull myself up. The weakness of my own voice was slowly leaving, but not fast enough. The wound in my side was healing a lot slower than normal and I regretted going on the bunny diet with Stefan. Even one day without human blood had turned me into a whiny excuse for a vampire. "I only want Katherine."

"I knew I shouldn't believe a single word that comes out of your mouth." Stefan faced me, and Bonnie- Emily, (whatever) went back to drawing in the dirt. "This isn't about love is it? It's about revenge."

"The two aren't mutually exclusive." I tried to get around Stefan, to get to the witch but his lack of gaping wound made him stronger in this instance.

"Damon, you can't do this."

"Why not!" I shoved hard at him, but he barely budged. "They killed twenty seven people, and they called it a war battle. They deserve whatever they get!" I know I sounded like an insane veteran, and partially I was, but this was different. This was Katherine; this was about righting the wrongs of the past. The other vampires could flatten the earth of every human for all I cared- as long as Katherine and I were together.

"Twenty seven vampires Damon. Vampires! You can't just bring them back!"

"This town deserves this."

"You're blaming innocent people for something that happened 145 years ago."

I pushed him away, the wound finally sealing itself. I wasn't back to my full strength but I finally didn't feel like I was dying. "There is nothing innocent about these people, and don't think for one second it won't happen again. They already know too much," I turned my glare on Emily. "and they'll burn your little grandwitch right next to us when they find out! Trust me."

That caught her attention, but not enough to stop her. "Things are different now."

"Don't do this." I begged, unbelieving that I'd come this close after all these years just to have my entire reason for living to be ruined. I couldn't lose her again, I couldn't.

"I can't free them, I won't." she dropped the stick, rising her arms. "Incedia!"

"No!" I tried to get to her. If I knocked her to the ground, her concentration would be broken and she wouldn't be able to perform the spell. "No!"

Stefan held me back, the fear of the fire and his strength keeping me in place. All I could do now was stand and watch. I vaguely heard Elena's heartbeat, but my eyes were focused on Emily. Hell, for a second there I swore I even saw her. She held the necklace out, like she was taunting me with it. "Bonnie!" Elena called out, and Stefan left me to keep her from getting to close to the flames.

Emily and I only stared at each other, and then I watched as she threw the crystal up and it exploded into sparks. "No!" I screamed, watching the witch's face as she smiled. The flames died down, and Emily left her body- but I didn't see that. I didn't care. I raced forward, wrapping my arms around her and sinking my fangs into her neck. The spell she'd just performed still ran through her veins, the magic making her blood spicy. I only drank more, and quickly. I would have drained her if Stefan hadn't tossed me back. Bonnie's body fell to the ground and Stefan knelt over her.

"She's alive, but barely. I can save her." Ever the Saint, baby brother bit into his wrist and fed his blood to the unconscious witch. Elena glared at me, her eyes furious and frightened.

I could have cared, should have cared that now she had one more reason to hate me, but I couldn't bring myself to. Her face only reminded me of Katherine, of what I'd lost, of what I'd never be able to have again. She turned away from me, disgusted. I watched as she bent over Bonnie, and if I hadn't been nearly so depressed, I might have felt bad for nearly killing her best friend. After all, it was Emily that had performed the spell. "Her neck, it's healing." Elena's voice sounded so quite, almost as if there were miles between us instead of feet.

I stayed silent, even after they'd left and Stefan had taken both girls away. I didn't move, I didn't speak and it was a good thing I didn't need to breath, because I probably wouldn't have done that either. Only when Stefan came back alone, was I able to find the right words. It was time he knew my side of the story, or at least what I was able to tell him at the moment. He knew mostly everything else now anyway. "Katherine never compelled me, I knew everything. Every step of the way." Stefan didn't speak at first, he knew he didn't need to. As brothers, we understood each other. "It was real for me." The sick realization that there was nothing in this town for me cut right into my heart. "I'll leave now."

There was nothing left for me in Mystic Falls. My brother hated me; the only girl I'd been able to look at was only a constant reminder of what I'd lost. I had to get as far away from Mystic Falls, from these people as I could.

(Elena's POV)- Boarding House

The Salvatore's had not left town, but a lot had happened in the last few days. Logan Fell had returned and terrorized enough people to earn him quite a reputation in the short time he'd been a vampire. He'd nearly killed Caroline, and Damon but I couldn't think about that tonight. I couldn't think about anything besides Stefan and what an incredible night we'd just had. I felt the shift of weight in the mattress as he slid from the bed to get me a drink. So much happened in the few weeks that I'd know this man, and yet it was almost hard to remember being with anyone else. I felt safe with him, his immortality unfortunately a important factor in my attraction to him. To excited to lay in bed any longer, I got up. I only wore Stefan's shirt, but it was enough. His smell was everywhere in his room, and now it was around me. On my skin.

The faint scent of vanilla from the candles tempted my nose and I went to the desk to smell them. He'd been so gentle, so loving. Exactly the way I'd imagined being with Stefan was like. Then my heart, which had been soaring only a moment ago plummeted in my chest. I'd learned fairly quickly that being involved with the Salvatore brothers meant decades of secrets, but I'd never imagined this. The picture in my hand, I just kept staring at it; almost not believing my own eyes. Was this even possible? What did it even mean? The name beneath the photo said Katherine, and I knew it had to be true. It made sense now, a lot of things made sense. I felt sick and suddenly afraid as the warmth of tonight's earlier events turned cold. I set the picture down, turning to find my clothes.

Stefan lied, he'd lied to me before and he would lie again. I could stay, I could confront him with the picture, but he could just lie again. I'd finally let someone in, allowed myself to love and trust someone. Someone that only loved me; only wanted me for my face. As a last thought I tore the necklace from around my throat and set it on top of the picture. I was amazed that I was able to sneak out without him seeing me, but I made it. I ran to the car, got behind the wheel and drove. I just kept driving, not exactly sure where I was going. I couldn't think, I could only cry. The shock was enough to almost make it impossible to even cry, but I found the tears that quickly turned to sobs.

I look like Katherine.

I look like Katherine.

I look like Katherine.

The fact registered over and over in my mind like a bad repetive song. Finally, the night fog held my attention and I tried to focus on the road. Ever since my parents accident I'd been a perfect driver, and with the state I was in I definitely had to be careful. All of a sudden, the fog cleared and I saw the form of a man. I tried to swerve to miss him, but I was going too fast. The next few seconds were a blur. It felt like the world had turned itself over, and over and over. The car came to a fast stop on its roof and I cried out. Every part of my body hurt, but I couldn't move more than my arms to hold myself up. I watched as the body on the pavement moved.

It was clear he wasn't human, that he was a vampire from his robotic movements as his body repaired itself. I watched, helpless as he stood, walking towards me. I screamed, knowing that it was useless. There wasn't anyone that could hear me, no one that would save me. Stefan wouldn't know where to find me, hell I didn't even know where I'd ended up. I began panicking, trying to free myself even as he got closer. I could only see his shiny black boots, and then he was crouching down. I was sure this was it, that I was going to die. Then all of a sudden, he ran off. Confused wouldn't even begin to describe what I was feeling, but I looked harder- trying to see him in the distance. Out of nowhere Damon's face appeared and I screamed again.

If all these vampires wanted me dead, why not just kill me. Between the heart attacks and the accidents, you would think a simple snapping of my neck would get it over with quickly and easily. "How you doing in there?" he asked, concern on his face.

"Damon?" I'd never been happier to see him before, but I couldn't stop crying either. I was trapped, helpless and at the mercy of the very Salvatore brother that I wasn't supposed to trust.

(Damon's POV)

"You look stuck." I stood, trying to push the car over but even with my strength it wouldn't budge. I felt like kicking it in frustration, but that wouldn't do more than scare her. She'd clearly been through hell and the last thing she needed was to be even more afraid of me then she already was.

"It's my seatbelt." She was crying, oh God I hated it when she did that. "I can't get it off."

"Shhh, shhh." I crouched back down to her level, steadying my voice. She needed me to be calm, so that's what I would be. I could smell the gasoline leaking out onto the pavement and while it was doubtful it would spark, I wasn't going to sit around and let it burn us both up. "I'm gonna get you out of here. I want you to put your hands on the roof." She complied, and I nodded. "Just like that. Ready? 1, 2, 3!"

She made no sound, even as I ripped the door from its hinges. She collapsed in a heap of limbs and I bent to retrieve her quickly, settling her in my arms. "Damon." She moaned my name, barely audible and I wanted to hold her tighter, but that might only hurt her more.

"Are you okay?" her body was dead weight in my arms, telling me she was barely able to support herself. "Can you stand? Is anything broken?" She groaned, shaking her head and I decided to find out for myself. Gently, I set her feet down on the pavement and tilted her up, but almost as soon as she was upright, her knees buckled. "Whoa." I held onto her tightly, brushing her hair back from her face. Her eyes wouldn't stay open, but I knew we had to get out of here before whatever vampire it was that had been here came back. "You are fading fast Elena. Elena, look at me. Focus." I captured her chin in my fingers, forcing her eyes to connect with mine. She was nearly out of it, I could tell from the slow rate of her heart. "Look at me."

Her eyes met mine for a moment, her voice strained. "I look like her."

"What?" she couldn't possibly mean Katherine; that would be impossible. Stefan and I had agreed never to tell her that. She collapsed again and I bent down with her. She wasn't dead, she was just out, that at least was comforting. I looked around quickly, and pulled her back into my arms. "Upsie daisy." I murmured, walking away from the car. There was no one around for miles, no one who had seen the accident. I'd only heard it through the forest as I'd been waiting for Logan. Whoever it was that had killed him, that had turned him to begin with was probably the same person that had caused Elena's accident. Either way, we had to get out of here, out of this town. Since she wasn't awake to object and there was no one around to stop me, I didn't see much harm in it.

(Elena's POV)

I heard the sound of an engine, but it didn't sound like my car. No, it couldn't be my car. I'd wrecked my car last night…hadn't I? The accident, and the man…and then Damon had saved me. Damon! I opened my eyes, adjusting to the light. He smiled at me, not exactly cocky but still with that air of mischief that made me want to punch him. "Morning."

I took in my surroundings quickly. We were in his car, driving. I didn't recognize the land, not a thing about it. "Where are we?"

"In Georgia." He quipped, sounding quite proud of himself.

"Georgia?" I looked around, realizing it was possible- which only made me want to deny it more. "No, no we're not. Seriously Damon, where are we?"

"Seriously we're- we're in Georgia." He smiled again, as if taking a road trip without telling anyone was a normal thing to do. "How are you feeling?"

"I-"

"There's no broken bones, I checked."

I didn't even want to know what had involved him checking me for broken bones, so I let that slide. "My car," I fought to piece back the moments of last night together. I remembered leaving the house, why I'd left the house and the sick feeling came back. "there was a man. I hit a man. But then he got up, who was that?"

"That's what I would like to know."

He made a show of looking out the window as I searched. "Where's my phone? We need to go back, nobody knows where I am." He seemed perfectly fine with that, and continued to ignore me as I freaked out. "Pull over." He looked at me, as if trying to judge just how serious I was. I hated the silent treatment, except when I was using it on someone else. "I mean it Damon, pull over." Still no response, causing my frustrated panic to rise to an all time high. "Stop the car!"

He rolled his eyes, sighing. "Ugh, you were so much more fun when you were asleep."

Before the car even came to a stop, I was out of it. The sudden movement had my joints screaming in contrast and I bent over. Every muscle, every bone hurt. Why hadn't he given me any blood to heal me? Suddenly, he was at my side, the warmth from his hands pressing against me through my clothes as he steadied me on the curb. The complete concern on his face startled me and I stood up, moving away from him slightly. "I'm fine. We have to go back."

"Oh come on, we've already come this far!"

"Why are you doing this? I can't be in Georgia, I wrecked my car. I have to go home. This is kidnapping."

Another crime on the list of Damon's indiscretions didn't seem to bother him. He simply rolled his eyes, smirking in a way he believed was devastatingly charming. "That's a little melodramatic, don't you think."

"You're not funny. You can't do this, I'm not going to Georgia."

He leaned back against the car, almost bored. He knew I had no choice, but at least gave me the decency of objecting now that it was too late. "Well you're in Georgia, without your magic little necklace I might add." I remembered taking it off, feeling very foolish for that now. Even so, I felt the bare skin of my neck, suddenly more afraid of him. "I could easily make you more…agreeable."

"What are you trying to prove?" The sound of ringing interrupted me and I looked down at his pocket. "That's my phone."

He pulled it out, holding it toward me. "Mmm, it's your boyfriend." Even the mention of Stefan had me on the verge of angry tears and I turned away from it. "No? I'll take it. Hello, Elena's phone…"

I could hear Stefan's voice on the other end. He sounded frantic and I got some sick pleasure from that. "Where is she? Why do you have her phone? Is she okay?"

"Elena?" he asked, playing dumb. I felt his eyes rake over me and I shifted uncomfortably next to him against the car. "She's right here, yes…she's _fine._"

"Where are you? Let me speak to her."

Damon held the phone out to me again. "He wants to talk to you."

I glanced at it, shaking my head. "Mhmm."

He smirked at the small victory of my anger at his brother, his tone annoyingly cocky. "Yeah, I don't think she really wants to talk to you right now."

"Damon, I swear to God if you touch her-"

"You have a good day. Bye now."

(Elena's POV)

Why did he have to be so damn stubborn all the time? It made me want to literally punch him in the face, even knowing that it would hurt my hand more than his jaw. "Look, no one knows where I am. Can we please just go back?"

"We're almost there." He shook his head, talking calmly as if I was a small child he had to reason with.

"Where is there?"

"A little place right outside of Atlanta. Oh come on Elena. You don't wanna go back right now, do you?" He moved forward, backing me against the hood of the car. He had no idea how intimidating he really was, or how badly I wanted to stay with him. Home meant nothing but craziness and drama; the sad reality that I'd been dealing with for a while now. "What's the rush? Time out." He motioned a 'T' with his long fingers and I took the moment to notice just how big and strong his hands were. "Trust me, your problems are still gonna be there when you get home. Look step away from your life for five minutes," his eyes forced mine to connect with his, the pull to go along with him getting stronger. He wasn't using compulsion, just simple logic and honesty. If he got what I needed this easily, what would one day harm? "five minutes."

Still, the underlying fear of spending time with Damon Salvatore unsupervised and vervain protection free had my mind reeling. I turned away, contemplating every decision. There was no doubt in my mind he would take me back if I demanded it, but I needed this 'five minutes' away from everything. I faced him again, wondering if I was nailing my own coffin shut. "Am I going to be safe with you?"

"Yes."

"Do you promise not to do that mind control thing with me?"

"Yes."

"Can I trust you?"

That's where the sincerity ended. With a quick roll of his eyes, he shook his head. "Get in the car." He walked to the driver's side and got behind the wheel. "Come on." My heart sunk in my chest like lead, but I got in anyway.

For a while we drove in silence, the only sound his fingers tapping against the steering wheel to whatever the hell song he had playing. I couldn't stand the silence anymore, and I certainly couldn't stand the traitorous thoughts my brain was creating about how his hands would feel on my skin. I was just upset about Stefan, that's all, and a little jumbled up after the accident. What was it called when the victim fell for her captor? Stalk home syndrome…yeah, that's all this was. I was looking at Damon, thinking about Damon because he was the only one here I could focus on. "So where's my car?"

"I pulled it off to the side of the road, I don't think anyone will bother it."

"What about that man in the road? Was he a-"

"From what I could tell, yeah." That idea didn't seem to impress him very much and the foolish thought that it might have been Damon all along just to trick me into coming on this trip with him left my brain as quickly as it had entered. I just couldn't picture him risking hurting me for that.

"You didn't know him?"

"If I've never met him, I wouldn't know him. I mean, it's not like we all hang out together at the Vamp Bar and Grill."

I guess I didn't realize how foolish my question had been until he'd worded it like that. Of course it wasn't possible for all vampires to know each other. Did he expect me to know every single seventeen year old girl in Virginia? He pulled off the highway then, stopping across three parking spots in front of a building that proclaimed 'Bree's Bar' in blue letters over the door. "Where are we? You brought me to a bar?" He said nothing, only got out of the car, forcing me to do the same. "Damon, I'm not old enough. They're not going to let me in."

"Sure they will." He smirked at me over his shoulder, walking away as if he didn't care if I followed or not.

With a sigh I slammed the door closed and followed him, grumbling about how annoying blue eyed vampires could be. The bar was mostly empty, considering it was still basically afternoon. I saw the pretty bartender wiping the bar, all thoughts stopping when she looked up at Damon. "No," she looked surprised and I quickly glanced at him seeing a genuine smile on his lips. "no it can't be." All I could do was stand there and watch as she pushed herself over the bar, striding towards him like she owned the place, which I assumed she did. "Damon," he looked her over appreciatively, their relationship obviously more than friendly. "my honey pie."

Never in a million years would I consider Damon being described as any other dessert than perhaps Devil's Food Cake, but this woman seemed to know him quite well- very well I noticed when she pulled him in for a kiss that he returned quite enthusiastically. Their mutual low moans of satisfaction had my curiosity spiked and I found I wanted to know just what it was that had brought the two of them together.

(Damon's POV)

The bar was filling up quickly, but in remembering just what kind of girl Bree had been back when we first met, it wouldn't have surprised me if she has a full house in here every night. The young girl I'd known was fresh and beautiful and friendly…very friendly. None of those traits she'd seemed to have been lost since the last two decades had past. She strode toward us, a bottle in her hand and a line of shot glasses before her. "Listen up everybody. Here's to the man that; broke my heart, crushed my soul, destroyed my life and ruined any and all chances of happiness." I don't believe she could have summed up our short lived relationship any better than that, watching as she brought three of the shots over. "Drink up!" We downed our shots together and then I quickly sneaked Elena's away and finished that one too. Just because I'd brought her in here didn't mean she had to drink. She smiled at me slightly, and I wondered for the hundredth time already since she'd woken up how I'd gotten so damn lucky. She'd actually agreed to stay with me on this weird little bender of a road trip, something the Elena I thought I knew, would never do. Bree filled our glasses again, focusing on Elena for the moment. "So, how did he rope you in?"

Now this, was going to be a lot more entertaining than I thought. "I'm not roped in, actually I'm dating his-"

"Oh honey, if you're not roped- you're whipped. Either way, just enjoy the ride."

Either she was too shocked to say anything, or she had a hard time disagreeing. "Okay." Elena looked down at her shot glass and I wondered what she was thinking. Too often, that girl held all her thoughts deep in her mind, and not even my powers would get into that iron locked brain. Compelling her to tell me was the only option I had, and I had promised not to. Damn promises, biting me in the ass- usually why I didn't make many of them. "So how did you two meet?"

Bree laughed, saving Elena from having all the attention on her, something she was clearly not comfortable with at the moment. "College."

Her big brown eyes turned on me, curiosity and interest making them sparkle. "You went to college?"

"I've been on a college campus…yes." The alcohol burned deliciously as I took another shot, knowing that whatever my tab racked up to be, it would be cleared by the end of the night.

"About twenty years ago, when I was a sweet, young freshman I met this beautiful man and I fell in love, and then he told me about his little secret. Made me love him even more, see cuz I had a secret of my own, that I was dying to share with somebody."

I watched Elena's face as Bree told the story, her expression interested and surprised. It wasn't so much that she couldn't believe Bree could love me, but more like I could love someone back. I leaned over, whispering conspiratorially. "She's a witch."

She laughed, looking at me like she was still that sweet young thing all full of innocence and spunk. "You changed my world you know."

"I rocked your world."

My smirk had her smiling and she turned to Elena quickly. "He is good in the sack isn't he?" Her question had Elena looking uncomfortable and I could have kissed here again for surely forming wonderful images in Elena's mind. Any and all chance I could get for that girl to think about me devouring her was in my favor. "But mostly, he's just a walk away Joe."

Bree finished the shot in her hand and I felt the momentary flash of guilt before I quickly flipped the switch back off. It was true, I'd left her but Katherine was my main priority, everyone knew that. It was basically branded on my forehead. After sending Elena outside with her phone so I could have a mythical moment with Bree, I found my hopes crushed again. I would not believe that the crystal was my only answer to opening the tomb. I couldn't believe it, because then that would mean everything I'd been working so hard for was over. I spotted Elena outside, heard the faint ringing of her phone and knew it was Stefan. I wasn't surprised that she answered it, but I was surprised at how cold she was toward him. "Elena, is that you?"

"I'm here." She sounded less than pleased to hear his voice, and I couldn't help smiling at that. It seemed baby brother really had screwed up this time.

"Where are you?"  
>"You lied." She ignored the question, her apparent stubbornness working in my favor. She didn't want to be anywhere near us, which in turn gave us the privacy I needed.<p>

"Not until I explain, please."

"So you didn't lie?"

"Just tell me where you are so I can come get you."

Again she ignored the question, her own burning need for answers greater than pleasing him. It was about time she started taking care of herself. "How am I connected to Katherine, Stefan?"

"I honestly don't know."

The music was loud in the bar, but I could still here her faint scoff. I moved to the door, then outside. "And I'm supposed to believe that?"

"It's the truth, I…listen-"

She didn't want to listen, and I watched as she hit the end button on the call. I was behind her in a moment, unfortunately scaring her. "You okay?"

Her eyes darkened, but with despair. It was clear she was torn, and even though I didn't exactly want her with Stefan, that didn't mean I wanted her unhappy either. "Don't pretend to care. I know you're gloating inside." Her words hurt a little and I wondered just how cold she really thought I was.

"Come back inside with me, we can have some dinner. I could stand another drink, and then we'll hit the road and I'll take you home sweet home."

Her eyes narrowed and she searched my expression. After all, I had made it clear she couldn't trust me. For a moment we stood there, locked in a wordless battle. All I needed was a little _give_ and I could get her on my side, but with that would come _take_ and I wasn't entirely sure just how much of her I was willing to sacrifice for the greater good of getting Katherine back in my arms. I'd let women come and go in my life without barely blinking, but visiting with Bree had got me thinking. Could I really use and abuse Elena as I had so many other women just to get what I wanted? "You promised that I would be safe with you."

"You will be." In a moment of weakness, I took her hand. "Come back inside please."

Surprisingly, she didn't pull away- at least not immediately. When we were back at the bar and our food was sitting in front of us she broke her silence. No doubt her time with Stefan the previous night had created more questions than answers for her, and I wished that I would be able to give her the information that she needed, but I couldn't. If I was a walking, talking encyclopedia on everything related to Katherine Pierce and her life, I would not be sitting here in the first place, risking my neck and other vital body parts to ask hopeless questions to a woman that would probably rather see me burned alive than reunited with my true love.

"Let's just say that I'm descended from Katherine, does that make me part vampire?"

I shook my head, relieved she'd finally found a question I could answer honestly. "Vampires can't procreate, but we love to try." The look she gave me was meant to send me falling on my ass, but I only smirked and went for another fry. "No, if you were related it would mean that Katherine had a child before she was turned."

As far as I knew, the _innocent _little Katherine Pierce had never had a baby, but there was a lot about her she'd never bothered to tell me. There was a lot about everything she never bothered to tell me. "Did Stefan think that he could use me to replace her?"

She sounded a little sad, a little disgusted but mostly confused. After all, she'd probably just given her virginity to some monster she thought she could trust who turned out to have a long dead, undead ex girlfriend that looked exactly like her. I would have been shocked if she wasn't at least a little shaken up. "Kind of creepy if you ask me." Not that the thought hadn't crossed my mind of course, but I was the creepy one. It was expected of me to think sick things like that. She shook her head, pushing her pickles from the bun to the side of her plate. "Come on, you don't like pickles, what's wrong with you?"

I reached over, stealing them from her. "How can you even eat, if technically you're supposed to be...?"

"Dead?" I whispered, looking around to see if anyone was listening on her behalf. "It's not such a bad word. As long as I keep a healthy diet of…blood in my system my body functions pretty normally."

As if to prove it, I devoured another French fry, thankful that at least this curse of immortality had not made it impossible to still enjoy the basic fruits of life. Beyond food and sex, what else was there a man needed to survive? She smiled, laughing slightly and I wondered just how close I was to winning her over. She seemed fairly charmed by me, until her next words threw an entire wrench in my plan. "This nice act, is any of it real?"

"Mm-hm."

"Here you go honey." Bree came over, handing me the beer I'd asked for, another one in her hand.

"Thank you."

"I'll have one too." Elena said, and I looked at her.

"Hmm?"

"Time out, remember? For five minutes." Bree nodded, popping a fresh one open for her. "Yeah well, that five minutes is gonna need a beer." I briefly wondered if I would get to catch a glimpse of the Elena that Caroline had mentioned once or twice. Before her parents death, she'd apparently been a wild child, which I had a hard time picturing at the moment. We clinked our bottles together and I watched as she took her first drink, the taste uncommon to her after her recent stint of personal prohibition. Ah, now those were the real dark ages.

By the time we'd finished dinner, the bar had filled up completely and Elena had lost her sweater. She was down two beers and was currently on her third shot of the night. Whatever barriers she'd been keeping up around her were down now. "Ready?" Bree asked, her long fingers wrapping around her own shot glass. Elena nodded, ready for number three. "Go!"

Her glass hit the counter quicker than mine, and I caught Bree smiling as she wiggled in her chair. Yes, the uptight princess had officially left the building. "That's three!" she glanced at me, seeing the tequila slip from my lips as I tried not to laugh. "Do you need a bib?"

"Sorry, I can't unhinge my jaw like a snake to consume alcohol." I turned to her, quite enjoying this little cute bickering thing we'd had going on and off all night since she'd started to relax.

"Whatever." She smiled smugly, clearly passed the point of tipsy. "Alright, who's next? Another round Bree?"

Who was this girl next to me? I sure as hell couldn't figure it out. "Honey," a blonde next to her was apparently almost as entertained as I was by the show she was putting on. "you should be on the floor."

"I am not even drunk." Elena denied, slipping from the stool and raising her arm above her head. "My tolerance is like way up, here!"

I watched as she jumped up, then nearly tripped over the flat surface of the floor. Carefully, I helped her back onto the stool, wondering just what I'd gotten myself into by bringing her here.

(Elena's POV)

I hadn't even sunk the ball, but I stood up and cheered anyway. The lightheaded feeling that always accompanied me being like this had long since passed, but I was still feeling pretty damn good. The sound of my phone ringing caught my ears and I turned to grab it from the counter where it sat with my jacket. "Hello?"

"Elena?"

"Jenna!" I worked hard trying not to sound drunk, knowing that probably made it worse. "Uh, hold on, it's loud in here."

"Elena, where are you?" her concern made my guilt level rise as I tugged on my jacket and half stumbled toward the door. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Yeah I'm good. Everything's fine. Hold on, I can't hear you."

"It's not fine. I just got a call from-" I tripped over the banister, my phone falling to the sidewalk. As I moved to pick it up, a hand clapped over my mouth. I tried to scream, but it was impossible. The arms around me were strong, stronger than a humans but I could tell from the body holding me and the cologne that belonged to the man that it wasn't Damon that had grabbed me. Whoever it was didn't take me very far, just down a few blocks and around the corner. He kept his eyes on me, holding my mind in his hands with his compulsion. Was this the same vampire that had caused my accident back home? "He's going to find you, and I need you to stay here and be quite until he comes. Do you understand?"

I nodded, almost numbly. "I won't move."

"Good." He smiled, the dark veins under his eyes disappearing as he moved away from me, hiding himself out of sight.

It was probably only minutes before Damon found us, but it felt like forever. He came forward, and I wasn't sure what this man was going to do to him, but it obviously wasn't good. "Damon no!"

He froze in place, but it was already too late. The man came out of nowhere and threw Damon to the ground. I watched as he beat him with a lead pipe, the compulsion now wore off. I could move again and I quickly climbed down as Damon cried out in pain. "What the hell?" The man moved fast, a can of gasoline in his hands now.

"No!" I called out, coming closer as he poured the flammable substance over Damon. I knew enough about vampires to know that if he set Damon on fire, he could very definitely die. The man turned to me, snarling and I stopped in place.

"Who are you?" Damon's voice was strained and I realized that he probably hadn't fed since last night at the earliest. He was weak, and getting weaker by the second, that's why he wasn't fighting back.

"That's perfect." The man scoffed, not so much sounding like a monster now as a heartbroken man. "You have no idea."

"What are you talking about? What did he do?"

"He killed my girlfriend." The man spat, and I looked down at Damon. He didn't deny it, but that didn't exactly surprise me. Who knew just how many women Damon had killed this year already? "What did she do to you, huh? What did she do to you?"

"Nothing." He answered, still lying on the ground. It was strange for me to see Damon like this, without any fight in him. Was he really just going to lay there and let this stranger kill him?

"I don't understand." I had to stall; I had to keep him distracted. Another few minutes would buy us time, let him heal so he could fight back, let me come up with a better plan to get us out of here.

I was suddenly very desperate to save him, to keep him safe like he promised he would keep me safe. I still didn't entirely trust him, but that didn't mean I was going to let him die either. "My girlfriend went to visit Stefan, and Damon killed her. Got it?"

I put the pieces together quickly, remembering the night Damon had staked Lexi. It was all slowly starting to make sense. Damon tried to sit up, but the man only kicked him in the head, sending him back on the pavement. "Lexi, Lexi was your girlfriend? She told me about you, she said that you were human."

"I was." He nodded, and I wondered for a moment just what it must have been like for him to have to spend the rest of eternity alone knowing that he would never be able to see her again.

He turned back to Damon, pulling the lighter from his pocket. I had to keep him talking; I had to keep his attention on me and away from Damon. "Lexi turned you?"

"If you wanna be with someone forever, you have to live forever."

I guess I never really thought about it like that before, but now was not the time to deal with my own morality issues and the vampire brothers I was currently tangled up with. I had to get Damon and I out of here, alive and in one piece. Again, Damon tried to get up, but once more he was beat down. "She loved you. She said that when it's real you can't walk away."

"Well that's a choice, you're not gonna have to make." He glared at me but I wasn't sure if he was disgusted in me for being with a vampire or himself for stooping this low to avenge her death.

"Don't, don't. Please, don't hurt him." I wanted to move closer, to go to Damon and reason with this heartbroken maniac, but I'd seen that look before, in my own mirror. The way he hurt for Lexi was how I'd felt after my parents accident. There were no magic words that would heal that wound, only time.

"I'm doing you a favor."

Whether that was true or not, I didn't care. I couldn't go home without Damon, I couldn't look Stefan in the eye and tell him that his brother was dead. I couldn't even picture tomorrow without that infuriating ass. "Lexi loved you, and she was good. That means you're good too. Be better than him. Don't do this, I'm begging you. Please." I watched, helpless as he lifted Damon from the ground. He threw him with all his force against the far wall of the building. I could hear Damon's faint groans and knew that he was alright, save for a being severely banged up. "Thank you."

"I didn't do it for you." I held my breath, waiting for an unending moment, and then he was gone. I ran to Damon, rolling him over. His clothes were soaked with gasoline, but he was alive.

"Are you healing?"

"Yes." He choked out, coughing for a moment. "Get me back to the bar."

I nodded, helping him up. It was a slow walk, but by the time we'd reached the bar again, he was back to himself. "Let's go." I said anxiously, looking around. The car was only a few steps away. "I don't think we should be here anymore."

He glanced through the windows of the now empty bar and shook his head. "Get in the car; I'll be back in a minute."

He didn't wait for me to respond, only handed me the keys and walked away. I don't know if it was some kind of sixth sense I'd adapted from spending time with all these vampires or simple survival instincts, but I listened to him and got in the car, making sure to keep my eyes focused on anything but the open windows. He came out a few minutes later, his jacket slung over his shoulder. He didn't speak, only took the keys from me and turned the ignition. I wouldn't ask what happened in there, because I didn't need to. He'd washed the blood from his hands, but the look on his face and the undeniable stress rolling off him was hard to misinterpret. He'd killed her, probably because she'd been the one to tell Lexi's boyfriend that we were in town. If there was anything Damon didn't stand for, it was obviously disloyalty. Neither of us spoke and eventually the roar of the engine put me to sleep.

(Damon's POV)

The next morning, we were still driving. As a vampire, sleep was a luxury not a necessity so I hadn't felt the need to stop. I couldn't stop, because then I would only think about what had happened last night. Bree had her reasons for doing what she did, and while I understood them I couldn't forgive them. Not yet, not after almost dying because of it. The only thing that kept me driving closer to Mystic Falls was the hope that she had been telling the truth about the spell book. I would have to find it, and I would probably need Elena's help to do it seen as how she was besties with the newest Bennett witch. "So why did you bring me with you?"

"Well you're not the worst company in the world, Elena." I smirked, hoping to get another one of those smiles out of her. She'd been so free, almost happy last night before everything had gone to hell. I wondered if I would ever get to see that girl again. "You should give yourself more credit."

"Seriously?"

"I don't know, you were there on the road. All damsel-in-distress-like. And I knew it would piss off Stefan." I wouldn't tell her that it was also because I was so damn lonely lately, that I'd simply needed another person in the car with me, even if she had slept through most of the trip. The sound of her heart beating alone had been a comfort. "And, you're not the worst company in the world Elena."

She seemed pleased enough with that answer, sitting back in the seat. The morning sunlight was setting parts of her hair on fire and I forced myself to focus on the road. Whatever connection we'd created these past two days did not warrant me the privilege of reaching out to touch her, so instead I kept my hands on the steering wheel. "I used to be more fun," she admitted, almost sounding like she missed it.

"You did alright."

"I saved your life." She sounded quite pleased with herself and I couldn't help a smirk of my own.

"I know."

"And don't you forget it."

I doubted I would ever forget what had happened between us.

_a/n: wow, that was so much longer than I mean it to be, but Bloodlines was such an important Delena episode I couldn't leave anything out. Hope you enjoyed this little (but long) look into Delena's minds. Please let me know what you thought._


	4. Chapter 4

_a/n: with work and getting ready for the trip I haven't had much time to write. Sorry about that guys. I really don't want to rush this, so I'm trying to pay a little more attention to the scenes and my own personal grammer/spelling issues. Still out there reading? I hope so._

Back to the Beginning pt 4

**(Damon's POV)- Gilbert House**

"How did he get in?" I asked, feigning calm annoyance in front of Elena even though I was furious. She could have been killed. Hadn't I told her to be careful who she invited into the house?

"He was invited." She looked terrified, her voice cracked and worried. Good, she should be worried. She should be a hell of a lot more worried than she was.

"He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night." Stefan shot me a quick look, telling me to be nice to her. I could see that she was shaken up, how could I not? I noticed everything else about the girl. It had been a while since our little road trip to Georgia and even though we hadn't seen each other yet thanks to her needing to deal with the whole being adopted thing, (or spoken except for a few minutes ago when she called Stefan's phone), I hadn't stopped thinking about her since dropping her off.

"He gets points for that." I said a bit gently, wondering if she was ever going to look at me. "Did he say what he wanted?"

"No, he was too busy trying to kill me." Now the annoyance was in her tone, but I ignored it.

"And you have no idea who this is?" My brother's eyes turned judge and jury, condemning me before even knowing all the facts.

"No." he nodded, almost knowingly. What was it with these two? Just because I was a bad boy vampire didn't mean I was associated with every fanger that held a dark streak. "Don't look at me like that. I told you we had company."

"You think there's more than one?" she looked up at me, our eyes connecting for a moment. It was hard not to look back at her, even with Stefan sitting right there. Her 'costume' didn't exactly scream 50's but her hair and makeup did and I found myself wondering just what she would have been like in that time.

"I don't know."

"Damon, he was invited in."

I nodded, understanding my brother completely. He was not going to fight me, on this kill at least. For a moment, it would be nice to have our little brotherhood strength back together. "Then we go get him tonight," Elena looked a little shocked, no doubt thinking of the dance and all her friends. "you up for it?"

"What do I have to do?"

"Let your boyfriend take you to the dance. See how show's up."

Stefan shook his head. "That's a bad idea."

We did not have time for baby brother's martyr routine right now. He wanted to help me, wanted to save Elena but God forbid we get our hands dirty and sweat a little doing it. "'till we get him, this house isn't safe. For anyone who lives in it…it's worth a shot."

Elena glanced between us, siding with me for once. "I'll do it." Stefan looked less than pleased, noticing the look of trust we shared. A lot had happened on our little trip that had brought us closer together, something he either hadn't figured out yet or just didn't like. She sensed his distress and reached for his hand. "I'll be with the two of you, I'll be safe."

* * *

><p>For claiming to be a decade dance, the high school gym hardly held any nostalgia for me. The music playing was all poor covers of rock and roll classics, most costumes colorful although seeming to be half heartedly thrown together with a mix of whatever was in these teenagers' closets. Stefan and I had split up to cover more ground, but when I spotted Bonnie and Caroline all my attentions were drawn to the witch that could possibly have held all the answers. They both dismissed me pretty fast, only to have Stefan and Elena walk up to me a moment later. She smelled so good, I hadn't noticed that before, and now that she was in a room of living people, she seemed happier and much more alive.<p>

"Where did they go?" she asked, watching as Caroline and Bonnie lost themselves in the crowd of dancers.

"I don't know." I tried to sound indifferent, hoping that Stefan wouldn't start in on me again about my diabolical plan part two (as he so cleverly titled it).

"What'd you say to them?"

"I was perfectly polite." I looked down at Elena, remembering how wonderful her arms had felt around me that night when she'd helped me back to the car after I'd almost been killed. There was no way Lexis's boyfriend had been the one to cause her accident, but whoever it was; he was definitely here. I wanted to talk to her, just for a few moments. Hell, I just wanted to feel her close again. "Elena…would you like to dance."

"I would love to." She answered sweetly, smiling first at me and then Stefan. The cocky smirk was wiped off my face as she wrapped her hands around Stefan's arm. "May I have this dance?"

He swept her out onto the floor, purely to show her off I'm sure. Stefan hated dancing, always had- but for her, to keep her out of my arms, he would suffer and go along with whatever she wanted.

A while later, I found my own pretty blonde in a poodle skirt to dance with. My brother once again rained on my parade when he came up in a hurried rush. I caught the gist of what he was saying and followed him out of the loud gym. Elena had disappeared somewhere along her attempt to get to me and I felt a little foolish for not keeping at least one eye on her. We both heard her scream and followed the sound, Stefan yanking the new vampire away from her and throwing him to the ground. "Hey dickhead." I chided, catching the creeps attention. "Nobody wants to kill you, we just want to talk." I'd grabbed the makeshift stake she'd created from the mop, letting it leisurely rest against my shoulder. I could make it a weapon in an instant. He ignored me, snarling as he bolted back over the table toward her. I tossed the stake at Stefan quickly, watching as baby brother purposefully missed, staking him in the gut.

"Now you feel like talking?" he taunted, never the one liner guy but it worked for the moment.

"Screw you." The vampire groaned loudly in pain as Stefan thrust his fist through the monsters chest.

"Wrong answer." He leaned in close, doing his best impersonation at looking menacing. I'd have much rather been beating the little bastard, but we did have to get some information out of the creature before we ended his pathetic after life. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's fun." He answered, sounding almost bored. I grimaced for a moment, wondering if I often sounded that idiotic in my reasoning for doing stupid shit.

Stefan pulled out the stake, holding it close; ready to stab again if he needed to. "What do you want with Elena?"

"She looks like Katherine." The vampire sounded almost entranced with her, as if she was a toy to be played with and tossed aside when he grew tired of her.

She looked at me, as if I had the answer for everything, but in this instance I had nothing. "You knew Katherine?"

"Awe, you thought you were the only ones?" He tried to laugh, but it was hard with a gaping hole in his stomach no doubt. "You don't even remember me."

He was boring me quickly and I ached to snap his neck. "Tell me how to get in the tomb. Hmm?"

"No." Stefan shoved the tip of the stake between his ribs, not enough to be fatal but enough to hurt him. "The Grimoir."

"Where is it?" I demanded, my hands itching to push the stake the rest of the way in.

He looked back at me, his eyes taunting. Stefan twisted the stake, earning us a scream. "Check the journal," he gasped out. "use Jonathan's journal. Jonathan Gilbert's."

I stood, not anxious to go on another hunt for another damn book that could be anywhere in this God damned town.

"Who else is working with you?" Stefan asked, but he said nothing in response.

"Who else is there?" I demanded.

"No, you're gonna have to kill me."

I stepped back, shaking my head at Stefan. We we're going to get nowhere with this guy. He probably didn't know anymore anyway. Stefan withdrew the stake, then drove it straight through his heart. Elena gasped, mumbling almost incoherently. "How are you going to find the other's now?"

"He had to die." I answered, my arms tight over my chest to keep from reaching out to hug her. She looked so confused, so scared. There were more important things I had to do than comfort her right now, besides she had Stefan for that.

"But-"

"Elena," Stefan called her name and she looked back at him. "he's been invited in."

**(Elena's POV)-Boarding House**

I could feel the warm morning sunlight coming in through the window. Stefan must have forgotten to pull the curtains closed in our rush to get into bed. Even now, his arm was still protectively around me, holding me tight to his chest. I shifted slightly, feeling the last pull of sleep leaving me. I didn't want to wake up, I wanted to hold on to whatever dream that had been making me smile. He sensed I was awake, pressing his lips to the side of my face. Had he even been asleep at all? "Good morning."

"I could get used to this." He held me tight and I wondered if there was enough time before school to-

"Rise and shine sleepy heads." Damon's voice from the end of the bed broke any romance the moment might have been holding.

We sat up quickly, my fingers instantly dragging the sheet up over my chest. "Damon, please." I chided, hoping to make him feel like the annoyance he was.

"What are you doing?" Stefan demanded, helping to cover me.

"Oh stop being smutty." Damon rolled his eyes, seemingly unaffected by my state of undress.

"Seriously, get out of here."

"Please, if I see something I haven't seen before, I'll throw a dollar at it." his words nearly made me blush and I realized that his talent to picture me even more naked than I already was, had to be pretty good considering he had all his memories of Katherine to go off of. "Now listen; we have some very important business to discuss."

"And it has to be right now?" I asked, wishing he would evaporate into thin air.

"We have lots to do, now that we're all…_friends, _and working towards a common goal." He smirked, and I wanted to slap him but that would be letting go of the sheet so I stayed still. Instead I shared an annoyed look with Stefan, knowing that we'd agreed not to actually help Damon get Katherine out of the tomb, but at least to pretend to. "So in order to open the tomb we need to find the journal, to get the grimoire to undo the spells. First things first, since you are Elena Gilbert, you're on journal duty."

"Since when am I helping?"

"Well, Stefan's helping and you've taken up residency in Stefan's bed. Ergo-"

Stefan slid a comforting hand on my thigh. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

I nodded, knowing that if I did what they asked, at least it would get this lie over with faster. "I'll look for it today."

"Good." Damon sounded pleased enough, but Stefan was still skeptical of the whole plan as it was.

"How do we know that this journal will hold the location of the grimoire? We're really gonna take the word of this vampire? He seemed like a bit of a dimwit."

"In lieu of any other options?" Damon offered, and I could practically feel his eyes burning through the sheet I currently had pulled over my head to block out the light, and him.

I just wanted quiet, I just wanted to get him out. "Okay," I sat up giving him a slight glare. I didn't care if he knew he wasn't wanted. "What exactly is a grimoire?"

He waved his hand almost dismissively. "It's a witch's cook book."

Stefan sighed, clarifying. "Every spell a witch casts is unique unto it's self so every witch would document their work."

"Yeah," Damon crossed his arms. "cook book."

"What about our mystery vampire?" Stefan asked, and I wasn't sure if he was trying to scare Damon off the plan or make sure that his brother didn't somehow know the bad vampires. "Dimwit, obviously wasn't working alone so whoever is out there knows who we are."

"And I don't like that disadvantage." Damon turned away, finally taking the hint. "So…chop-chop." He clapped his hands together loudly, but always the one to have the last word he glanced back. "You know I really like this whole ménage-a-threesome team thing. It's got a bit of a kink to it." He chuckled at his own joke, singsonging on his way out. "Don't screw it up"

I waited until he was down the stairs, but Stefan cut me off, pointing at his ear. Damon could hear us, probably would even when he was all the way back in the den. He kissed my hand quickly, trying to get out of bed, but I objected, pulling him back for a kiss. If Damon was going to listen in, we might as well give him something to listen to. He laughed, laying back with me as I pulled the sheet over our heads. School could wait a few more minutes, and this felt too damn good to stop now.

(Damon's POV)- Gilbert House

"My father never approved of anyone I dated." Jenna sat on the counter across from me, a glass of wine in her hand as I sliced the tomatoes. I could have been talking about anything and she would have been enraptured, I'm sure. "Which only made me want them more…of course." I smirked at her, knowing she had a soft spot for the bad boy. "What about you?"

"There were a few guys. Logan isn't the only loser I've dated."

It wasn't hard to believe that, she certainly didn't hurt to look at. "They ever find him? Or is he still missing?"

She chuckled knowingly, leaning forward as if to spare me the delusion that he could one day come back, no doubt a look she'd rehearsed in the mirror with herself more than once. "He's not missing, he's in the Bahamas' working on his tan. Very entitled that one, marches to his own drum." She drained her glass, a sign my charm and her self pity was working in my favor. I moved to fill it, earning a smile from her. "He's a Fell; they're all snooty."

I chuckled, but not at what she'd said, even though she only had eyes for me at the moment. The front door closed quietly, but I caught the sound. Elena was about to walk in on me and her lovely Aunt cooking together. No doubt, her head would explode. "Hello Elena." I drawled, going back to the vegetables. She came around the corner slowly, eyeing the situation carefully.

"Hey," Jenna greeted her, not at all sounding embarrassed to my surprise. "where have you been? We're cooking dinner."

Elena was focused on me, her expression darting a thousand questions straight at me. When she didn't speak, I took the liberty. "Stefan with you?"

"Um, he'll be here soon." Then her look turned accusatory and I merely shrugged, turning back to my chopping. She could look at me with those judgy little eyes all she wanted. I wasn't leaving anytime soon.

* * *

><p>When dinner was in the oven and Jeremy was home, Elena finally relaxed a bit- a sign I wasn't working hard enough. She grabbed plates from the cupboard, ready to set the table just as I moved behind her. We connected between the counter and the island, the lower halves of our bodies brushing together for an instant. "Don't do that."<p>

"Do what?" I asked, with wide eyed innocence.

"You know what, that move was deliberate."

I turned to the pot, stirring the sauce. "Well yeah, I was deliberately trying to get to the sink." She sighed, turning to glare at me from the table. So she was on to me and my obvious flirting, that didn't make it any less fun. "Speaking of Stefan, where is he? He's missing family night, which I am enjoying immensely." I threw a smile at her over my shoulder, hoping she would return it. Apparently she was no quite as easy to charm as Jenna, which I was finding a little annoying. This girl was a challenge, to say the least. She only threw me a look right back, reaching for the placemats on the island. "Is it real?"

"Is what real?" she sighed.

"This renewed sense of, brotherhood." I tested the sauce, thinking it needed a bit more cilantro. "Can I trust him?" Really it was her I wasn't sure I could trust, call me crazy but it wasn't easy to trust that face, even after all these years.

She paused, as if considering whether or not she should lie to me. There was something about her, something inside her that seemed to be at war. In the end, she lied anyway. "Yes, you can trust him."

I rushed across the kitchen, straight behind her at the table. She didn't jump, or gasp this time. I wasn't sure if it was nice that she was so used to my speed or a little put off that I had one less thing to shock her with now. She just turned around slowly, almost bored. "Can I trust him?"

"I'm wearing vervain Damon, it's not going to work."

Why did she always thing I was trying to mess with her? "I'm not compelling you, I just want you to answer me. Honestly."

"Of course you can." She lied again.

She walked away, back to the sink. I followed her with my eyes. "There was a time I trusted him more than anyone."

"Trust breeds trust." She said smartly, bringing the salt and pepper grinders over. "You have to give it to get it."

I smirked. "Are you lecturing me?"

She stopped, her hand on her hip. "Do you need to be lectured?"

While normally, I quite enjoyed this back and forth bickering we took part in, I needed straight answers from her tonight, something she was clearly not interested in giving me. "I just want her back. I'm sure you can understand that."

She thought about it, and I wondered if she thought about her parents, about what it would be like if she could have them back. "I understand that you would do anything to get her back." She brushed past me, and I decided it was time to end the niceties. She might be lying, but I wasn't.

She looked back at me, worry radiating off her body as I stood close to her. "Then you understand what I will do if anyone gets in my way."

* * *

><p>Dinner had been wonderful and surprisingly easy. Stefan had yet to show up, which I found refreshing. It was almost easy to imagine myself in this life for a few minutes, but the food was all gone now. I needed some distance from her so I decided to leave the kitchen and see what all the racket Jeremy was making meant. Of course, I'd been around video games before, the late eighties, early nineties had been a bit boring on occasion, but this was new. The graphics were better, the sounds more realistic, and the controllers a bit different than the last time I'd allowed myself a break to engage in this foolish hobby. "You said you never played this thing before." Jeremy slid forward on the couch, throwing his whole body into it.<p>

"I'm a fast learner, quick reflexes." His phone rang and he paused the game, only to ignore the call and toss the phone away. Whoever it was, was not more important than this apparently. "Who are you dodging?"

"This girl Anna. She can be…persistent."

"Is she hot?"

"Yeah, yeah…but she can be weird."

"Pfft," this boy had a lot to learn, especially if he was going to live in this town. "hot trumps weird. Trust me."

He laughed, his mind back on the game. I took that moment to listen in on the girls in the kitchen, catching the last bit what they were talking about. "He is ridiculously hot." Jenna whispered, only to be shushed by Elena. She no doubt knew I was listening, no doubt always thought I was listening.

"He's an ass." She spoke loud enough, just in case I wasn't. I rolled my eyes, trying to focus on the game. When the door bell rang, I dropped the remote, ignoring Jeremy's protests.

I followed Elena to the door, not exactly pleased to find Stefan on the other side. At least now I could find out what he'd discovered since this morning. "Well?"

"Why don't you come outside." Stefan stepped back and I sighed, grabbing my jacket before stepping out onto the porch. Before I could tell Elena to stay inside, she'd already snuck past me.

"Did you get the journal?" I asked, looking at Stefan's empty hands with expectant eyes.

"No, he didn't have it."

"Why not?"

"He said, well it was there but then it was gone."

I could have punched a hole in the wall, but I only turned and paced down the end of the porch. "Who took it?"

"I don't know." Stefan followed me, knowing that I could snap at any moment.

"I bet it's that teacher. There's something really off about him."

"No he doesn't know anything, somebody took it right before I got to him."

"Who else knew it was there?"

Stefan looked through the window, spotting Jeremy on the couch. It was Jeremy that had given the nutty Professor the book in the first place. Elena caught on quickly, trying to block me. "No, Damon leave him out of it."

"Why, what's the big deal?"

"Damon." She scolded, following me into the house. It's not like I'm gonna kill him, God; she could be so dramatic.

"So," I went straight into the living room, sitting on the arm of the sofa. He glanced at me. "I heard you found a really cool journal from back in the day. Who else did you show it to?"

"Huh?"

Exactly why I hated video games; they rotted brains. "Don't ask questions, just spill."

"You're kidding me right?" he laughed, probably wondering where the cool guy from earlier had gone.

"Jer," Elena took over, knowing the better way to handle her brother. "did you tell anyone but Mr. Saltzman about Jonathan Gilbert's journal?"

"Why is everybody so obsessed with that thing?" he was so clueless, God I hated teenagers.

"Who else did you tell?" she pressed, and I could have kissed her for being so stubborn.

"Just that girl Anna."

"The hot weird one?" I asked and he nodded.

"Yeah."

"Wait, who is Anna?" now Stefan wanted to play detective.

"That's what I want to find out. How do you know her?" I asked, Elena moving away to answer her phone.

Jeremy shrugged. "I just know her. She wants to meet at the Grill later tonight."

"Perfect." I grinned at Stefan, not all surprised to see the familiar brooding marks on his forehead. "I'll drive, come on."

"Oh, okay." He followed me out to the Camaro, jabbering on uselessly. When we got to the Grill, I caught my first glance of her. Memories of Katherine in green on a rainy day in a shop with Pearl and her daughter stunned me. This world was just too damn small for my own damn good.

**(Elena's POV)- The Forest**

I watched as Stefan flipped through the pages of the old book. The smell of dirt and death everywhere, but it was Damon's voice that turned my blood cold. "Well what do you know; this is an interesting turn of events."

Stefan climbed out of his father's grave. "I can't let you bring her back. I'm sorry."

"So am I." Damon looked near the verge of either tears or extreme violence. "For thinking I could trust you."

"You are not capable of trust. The fact that you're here means you read the journal, and you were planning on doing this yourself."

"Of course I was going to do it myself. Because the only one I can count on, is me. You made sure of that, many years ago Stefan." The brothers stayed locked in a face off, glaring at each other through the dim fire light. I wasn't sure what to do, or say. Part of me was screaming to run away, the other to hold Damon because he looked so hopeless and heartbroken. He turned on me then, his focus on me and I didn't feel afraid, only ashamed. "But you, you had me fooled." I looked down at the dirt, not proud of myself for the lies, but that at least he'd believed me and had real hope for a little while. I had no doubt that he loved Katherine, that he ached for her. I just couldn't risk opening the tomb and letting out all the other vampires. "So what are you going to do now?" he asked Stefan. "Because if you try and destroy that, I'll rip her heart out."

"You won't kill her." Stefan shook his head, as if daring his brother.

Damon took the dare, rushing across the grave and grabbing me. His arm wrapped around my neck, holding me tightly against his chest. My heart leapt to my throat as I looked helplessly at Stefan. When faced with losing Katherine, Damon was unhinged. There was no telling what he could do, what he could think of doing. "I can do one better." He quipped, lifting his wrist and biting. He forced his blood onto my lips, into my mouth. I tried to shake him off, to keep my mouth shut but he was too strong. "Give me the book Stefan." He demanded as more of his venomous blood went into my system. I knew exactly what it meant, but he explained it anyway. "Or I'm snapping her neck, and you and I will have a new vampire girlfriend."

"Let her go first." Stefan stepped forward, but made no move to stop him.

Damon let me breath, but I could feel the blood running out of my lips. I gasped for air, but he didn't release me completely. "The book." He asked again, but Stefan shook his head.

"I'm not gonna give this to you until she is standing next to me."

"The problem, is I no longer trust that you'll give it back."

"You just did the one thing that ensures that I will."

Stefan picked up the book, only to place it further in front of him on the ground. Damon held me tighter for a moment, not more painfully, just more secure. Then slowly, his grip released. I rushed to the safety of Stefan's arms, glaring back at Damon. He'd spent the whole night with us, showed me just how soft and wonderful he could be, only to threaten to kill me and turn me into a monster one meal later. He pulled me in, only to push me away- and it was all for Katherine. As Stefan and I ran, I sincerely hoped he found her, because after all he'd put me, his brother and himself through; he deserved some happiness. When we got home, my head was still pounding. I collapsed on the bed as Stefan went downstairs to get me something for it. I felt like I only had my eyes closed for a moment, and then I heard footsteps. "That was fast." I said, pushing myself up slowly.

It wasn't Stefan in the door way though. It was a young girl with long dark hair. "Hello Elena."

"You must be Anna." I wanted to stand, but there was something about her that kept me still. "I didn't know you were here."

"You don't know a lot of things." She smiled, and then everything went black.

**(Damon's POV)- Boarding House**

I didn't realize how worried I was that she had died until I saw her standing there. She smiled slightly, pulling her scarf off. "I'm gonna have to change the locks. You stage a jail break?" The grimoire felt comforting in my hands, but heavy now that I knew Anna didn't have Bonnie to bargain with. The witch could be anywhere, and without her I would never get into that tomb.

"Stefan." She said, as if that answered everything. In this case, it did.

"Ah, brother. Ever the white knight." I smirked, hoping I didn't sound too jealous. No doubt she thought I stayed awake at night wishing I could be more like him.

"I convinced Bonnie to help you." She seemed almost pleased with herself, but after her blatant lies in the kitchen, there wasn't a thing I would believe out of this girls mouth.

"I doubt that."

"I'm not gonna say that I'm sorry we got the Grimoire without you last night, because I'm not really." Her arrogant, almost smug tone itched my sarcasm but I couldn't come up with anything smart to say.

"Well at least you're honest." I smirked, watching her as she stepped into the den.

"I was protecting the people I love, Damon but so were you, in your own twisted way. And as hard as it is to figure, we're all on the same side, after the same thing."

"Not interested." I turned, ready to walk away. I would not let that face, those eyes trick me again. She wasn't as conniving as Katherine, but she was giving her a run for her money. This human, this girl was not the one that I wanted and I had to stop letting her distract me.

"Yes you are, because you were willing to work with us yesterday."

"Fool me once, shame on you." I whispered, turning to see that she'd stepped forward to follow me. I wasn't going to get away from her, not until I left this damn town.

"Okay, when we were in Atlanta, why didn't you use your compulsion on me?"

I tossed the grimoire to the side for the moment, stalking toward her. I heard the spike in her pulse, finding sheer pleasure in her momentary flash of fear. "Who's to say I didn't?"

"You didn't." she didn't sound so sure, my taunting probably not helping the situation. "I know you didn't, but you could have." She took a few more steps toward me, her perfume finally hitting me. "You and I…we have something. An understanding. And I know that my betrayal hurt you, different from how it is with you and Stefan. But I'm promising you this now, I will help you get Katherine back."

I groaned. "I wish I could believe you."

That familiar stubborn look came over her face, the one that made me think of Katherine. The one that made it hard for me to pretend that I didn't want to kiss her. She reached back and undid her necklace, setting it on the lid of a wooden trunk. "Ask me if I'm lying now."

I came forward, moving as a predator. I wanted her to be afraid of me, it was a good way for us to work. When we were on the same level it was dangerous, it was tempting. She made me forget about Katherine, made me forget about what I was doing here, and sometimes- just sometimes when she looked back at me I think she may have forgotten about Stefan too. "You know Anna won't stop by the way, no matter what I do."

"Then we'll deal with it."

I reached down for her necklace, slipping my hands beneath the panes of her hair. The soft brown strands felt like silk against the back of my hands as I fastened the clasp. "I didn't compel you in Atlanta, because we were having fun. I wanted it to be real." I let go of the chain. "I'm trusting you, don't make me regret it."

* * *

><p>We drove to the forest in near silence. She seemed comfortable now, especially since her necklace was securely back on her neck. The sounds of obnoxious teens partying hit my ears sooner than hers, and a few times she stumbled as we maneuvered through the trees on our way to the church. We we're going to have to go right through the little group of highschoolers, and not even stop for a drink. "The Duke party. I forgot, I hope they stay clear of the church."<p>

"Your hope, not mine."

"Elena, hey." Who is this now? I wondered checking this toque and vest wearing blonde brat over.

"Elena, oh my God." Caroline was right next to him, her hand in his the instant she spotted us. "Where have you been?"

"Long story, no time to tell it." I grimaced at her, earning a glare.

"I wasn't talking to you."

"Sure you were."

"Hey, I'm Matt."

I looked back at the boy, realizing just who this was. Elena's ex…hmmm. "Matt, there's a reason we haven't met." I took Elena's arm, leading her away from the Ken and Barbie of Mystic Falls. "You are I are going that way."

"I'm sorry guys." She looked over her shoulder, but I just kept pushing her. "You know, you don't have to be so mean to them."

I looked down at her, hoping my teeth were glinting in the light. No fangs, but she got the idea. "I'm sorry, did you really want to stand there while Blondie showed off her new boy toy to you? Rub the fact that she's dating your ex in your face?"

"That's not what she was doing."

I rolled my eyes, not at all surprised how clueless she was about things like that. I heard my name and whistled, announcing our arrival. "Brother. Witches. Are we ready?"

"I guess so." Bonnie nodded.

We all walked down to the entrance of the tomb together. Sheila had a torch in one hand, her grandwitch a bottle. "Air, Earth, Fire." She lit each point.

"Water." Bonnie handed her the bottle and she shook it over the ground.

"That's it?" Elena asked from the side. "Just water from the tap?"

"As opposed to what?" Shelia asked.

"I just figured it would have to be mythical, or blessed or something."

I pulled a blood bag from my jacket, making sure it was ready. "What's that?" Stefan asked, shining his flashlight on my hands.

"It's for Katherine. Gotta have something to get her going, unless your girl is offering up a vein." Neither of them said anything, so I kept it at a cocky smirk. "Admit it, you can't wait to get rid of me."

Stefan smiled painfully, shaking his head. "I can't wait to get rid of you."

"We're ready." Bonnie said, looking up at us. I could smell the fear rolling off her. They began chanting repeatedly, the flames of the torches shooting up. Then there was a loud cracking of rock and the entrance opened. "It worked."

"Of course it worked." Sheila said.

I stepped toward the opening, glancing back at Stefan. "Don't you have some fires to build?"

He set his hand on Elena's shoulder. "I'm gonna go get the gasoline, I'll be right back."

She nodded, watching him go. The two witches were watching me with terrified eyes. "You ready?" I asked her.

"What?"

"Do you think I'm gonna go in by myself so you can seal me in?"

"Don't take her in." Sheila shook her head. "I'll bring the wall down."

"You'll bring the walls down if I don't. You think I trust you?"

"As much as I trust you." She smirked.

"Enough, both of you." Elena played mediator, again her words working to my advantage. Maybe she really did want me back with Katherine. "Look, he needs leverage, he needs to know that you're not going to shut the door when he gets inside. I get it." she looked up at me. "I'll go."

"May I?" I reached for a torch, slipping through the opening.

The tombs pathways were wide enough considering what we were in, but the walls echoed with the faint voices of all the vampires trapped inside. Elena could hear it to, or at least hear something. "What is that?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"They can sense you." I didn't much care if she was afraid or not at the moment, my brain only on one thing. "Now, where is she?"

"Damon!" she called, but I'd already disappeared into the shadows.

* * *

><p>I searched, finally finding the rooms where most of the vampires had crawled to. They'd all been mummified by now, but they still had their faces. I searched each and everyone, but none of them was her. None of them. I threw the useless body of a corpse down. "She's not here, she's not here."<p>

"Damon?"

It was Stefan. I turned to him. "She's not here!" I screamed, throwing the bag of blood at the wall. It split, leaving a dark red mark.

"Damon we need to get out of here."

"It doesn't make sense. They locked her inside."

"If we don't leave now, we're not getting out."

"How could she not be in here?"

"It's not worth spending all of eternity in here." Stefan reached for me, but I threw his arm back ready to stay here far longer than eternity. "She's not worth it."

"Damon!" It was Katherine's voice, but it wasn't. It was Elena's. I looked at her through the dim light. "Please." Her eyes kept me going, moved me forward.

I walked out of the tomb, hearing the chants of the two witches. When the door shut behind us, it shut out all my hope. The entrance room turned dark, but I could make out the sight of Stefan with his arms around her. "It's okay." Stefan was whispering.

She looked up. "Jeremy." I watched her run up to the high ground, following her because what else could I do.

She checked on her brother, then came to me. I felt her arms wrap around me, barely heard her apology. Her skin felt warm, her body comforting. I could barely hold her back. It was really over this time, I could feel it. The last hundred and forty five years, and now nothing. Just…nothing.

_a/n: this episode was so heartbreaking. Remember, after this Damon goes to Anna's room and finds out that Katherine knew where he was all along and never said anything. Then Gram's dies thanks to doing the spell with Bonnie. I wanted to end it here, in this moment where Elena hugs him because it is such an important Delena moment._


	5. Chapter 5

_a/n: I really wanted to get one more chapter in for you guys before I leave on Monday. Things are so crazy with me lately so I'm sorry my updates have not been as frequent as they normally are. Hope everyone is still out there and liking this look back. Happy Reading._

_p.s. as most of you have noticed, I've taken some liberties with the scenes. All the dialogue is exact to the show-at least as far as I could tell-but I wanted the moments to flow together. Hope you all don't mind the little extras I slip in here or there._

Back to the Beginning pt 5

**(Elena's POV)- The Grill**

I was so desperate for a normal night, for some vampire free fun that I would not back out of this occasionally awkward double date Caroline had talked us into. "So, Matt how do you like working here?" I asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Uh," he glanced at Caroline, then back to me. I knew he was a little embarrassed about the fact that he had to work to pay the bills when the rest of us didn't. "it's not that bad. Wait staff tips out pretty good. They can't keep a bartender to save their lives, but I actually put my mom up for the job."

I cast a sideways look at Stefan. The latest town vampire to be turned and finished off. "How's that been," I asked Matt, knowing that this was an even sorer subject for him. "having Kelly back?"

"You know, same old Kelly. You know, she's trying…sort of."

"Kelly and my mom were best friends growing up." I informed Stefan, missing the pained look on Caroline's face. "That's how Matt and I first met, we shared a crib together."

"You're kidding." Stefan seemed fairly interested in all the new information he was gathering.

"Nah, we've known each other our whole lives." Matt grinned at me, and I couldn't help smiling back. He was so comforting, so familiar. If my parents had never…

Caroline sighed, breaking the moment. It was giggling at the bar that had us all looking up though. I spotted Damon almost instantly, all bad boy and leather. He was flanked by Kelly, and to my surprise, Aunt Jenna. "You got to be kidding me." Matt groaned as Damon turned to us.

He lifted his glass in our direction, smirking. Even across the room, our eyes connected and I shivered. I hadn't seen him since that night, since he found out that Katherine had never been in the tomb, not for one minute. She'd been out for the past hundred years and she hadn't come for him. He was broken, he was sad and at the moment he was clearly drunk. I remembered the last time I'd seen him, putting my arms around him. It was the only way I knew how to comfort him. Losing someone you love is a feeling I knew first hand, and I knew that words often did nothing to heal. He'd barely been able to hug me back, which told me how distressed he really was. Now, he seemed to be drowning his sorrows in the best way he knew how. Booze and women.

I looked back at Matt, the upset clear in his eyes. We needed to do something, to distract him from either collapsing into a pile of tears or going over there and punching Damon. Since the second and most probable option ended with blood and even more tears, I opened my mouth to speak. Stefan cut me off, saving the day. "Why don't we play some pool?" He smiled at Matt. "Boys verses girls?"

Caroline seemed pleased with that idea, finally speaking after a good twenty minutes of silence. "That table just became free."

She pointed to the one farthest away from the bar. Two games later, the threesome had only gotten louder and drunker. We stood there, watching them. Damon was definitely the worst of them all, but it didn't look like the others needed much guidance. Aunt Jenna was throwing them back like there was no tomorrow, and to Matt's disgrace, his mother seemed to be showing just how friendly she was with Jose and Jim. "At least they're having fun." Caroline said, trying to keep her voice light and cheerful, but failing miserably.

"They're drunk." I kept my eyes on Damon, wondering if I could trust him in his current state with my aunt.

Matt tried to change the subject, which only put us back in time again. "Remember when Elena's parents busted us here after homecoming?"

Caroline laughed, relieved to be involved in this memory."Oh my god, yes!"

I giggled, remembering how red my dad's face was when he saw me. I thought I was going to be either killed or grounded for the entire year. "We were wasted. It was the first time I got drunk, I blame Matt."

"Her parents got seated at the next booth..

"Matt had me pretend that I was choking so we could get away."

"Except her dad was a doctor, so he jumped up to save her."

"And I ran, slipped on the wet floor, and bit it. In front of everyone." We told the story, as we had a hundred times before. A perfectly rehearsed back and forth. "Do you remember that?" Caroline's smile had faded, as had most of Stefan's but neither Matt or I noticed. "Three stitches, a hangover for days and I was grounded from seeing this one," I pointed at Matt. "for a week."

When I looked up, Caroline had pasted a wide, fake smile on her lips. "Well I'm going to the washroom." She walked around the table, past me. "Elena?"

"Hm?" I looked up, but she was already gone. I followed her anyway, suddenly nervous around one of my best friends.

When I came out of the stall, she was leaning against the back wall. I could see her reflection in the mirror as I rinsed my hands. She didn't looked pleased. "So um, what are you doing?"

Her tone bit into me. "What?"

"Well the point of this was to show him how much you care about Stefan. You know, not to hopscotch down memory lane."

She was clearly pissed, probably even past that. An angry Caroline Forbes sat there quietly and fumed. A furious Caroline Forbes confronted and shot fire from her eyes. "I was just trying to make conversation."

"Try less." She turned away, but I moved after her, grabbing the door before it could even close.

"Caroline." She didn't stop, but I did when a man reached out for my arm.

"Katherine." It wasn't a question, but a statement. My blood turned cold when I looked up at him. I didn't recognize him, which didn't bode well.

"I'm sorry," I glanced at Caroline for help. "you have the wrong person."

"Elena, come on." She may be angry at me, but apparently not enough to let me be eaten by sharks, or in this case; probably a vampire. I nodded, looking down at my arm. He released his grip on me and apologized. "My mistake." I did my best to walk away calmly, and greet Stefan as normally as I could.

"How's everything going?" I asked, stepping into his one armed hug.

"Matt's cheating." He smiled.

"No need, I'm awesome." Matt looked down at Caroline, but I couldn't think about teenage drama right now. Tonight apparently was not the night for normal fun. I typed a quick message to Stefan, knowing that if the man that had grabbed me was a vampire, he was no doubt listening to everything we were saying. _That man over there just called me Katherine. _When I looked back over there, he was gone.

* * *

><p>The night had gotten worse, before it got better. Caroline had always had issues, and when we got back to the Boarding House, she took a little more of them out on me. Thankfully, Stefan had given Matt the keys to his car so they could go for a drive. I hoped that the time alone would give her the opportunity to yell at him like she just had at me. I knew I deserved it, that it had to have been hard competing with me for Matt's attention all night. Stefan and I were standing in the kitchen when we heard the front door close. Damon's voice drifted through the halls, but we stayed silent. It was apparent that he was not alone, and thanks to the moans we could tell it was a woman with him. Then Stefan tugged on my hand. "Matt's back."<p>

I followed him out into the hallway, seeing Kelly backing away from Damon. Matt looked disgusted and embarrassed. Kelly grabbed her purse, walking past us with her eyes down. Matt shook his head. "I gotta-"

"It's fine, just go." Caroline didn't sound pleased, but she didn't really have much of a choice.

"I'll take her home." I offered, glaring at Damon.

"Thanks man." Matt handed Stefan back the keys, closing the front door behind him.

Damon lifted the glass to his lips, not looking pleased with himself but not exactly embarrassed either. I stepped forward, ready to yell at him but Stefan grabbed my arm.

"I'm going to wait in the car." Caroline said, clearly ready for this night to be over. As soon as the door was shut behind her, I moved toward Damon.

"Seriously?"

He glanced at me, his eyes showing just how broken he was for a moment. Then the shielded cockiness snapped back down and he shook his head. "Don't for one second, think that I care about what you think about me."

His drunken words didn't shock me, but they did hurt. I wondered if when he looked at me, he saw Katherine. In this moment, it was entirely possible. He filled the glass again, and brushed past me. I tried to follow him, but Stefan stopped me again. "I'll deal with him, take Caroline home."

I knew Damon was hurting, that all he needed to do was work through his pain and if yelling at me, if pretending that I was Katherine would help him…but Damon wasn't a normal man. It might not end with yelling, and there was no telling just how dangerous he could get once we opened that can of worms.

**(Damon's POV)- Boarding House**

I hammered the nail through the wood. Of course, there would be a storm the day after two vampires busted a window in the house. "I say we go to Pearl's; bust down the door, and annihilate the idiot that attacked us last night."

"Yeah?" Stefan stood behind me, his arms crossed. "And then what, we turn to the rest of their house of vampires and say 'Oops, sorry'?"

Elena was behind him, her judgy little eyes doing their best to bore holes right through me. I shrugged, coming forward. She was wearing that perfume again, the fruity one that made it impossible to stay as far away from her as I should. "I can't believe you made a deal with her." She said, her head tilted as if she was disappointed in me, as if I was a small child that had broken a lamp.

"It's more like a helpful exchange of information. It's not like I got a choice, she's….scary." It had been a day since the 'medicine woman' had gouged my eyes back into my head and while I'd fully healed, it still stung like a bitch. "Besides, she's gonna help me get Katherine back." _Speaking of bitches._

Elena shook her head. "Of course she is." I let the jab slide, letting my ego believe her annoyance was really jealously. "Damon gets what he wants as usual, no matter who he hurts in the process."

That I couldn't let go. She was just too tempting. "You don't have to be snarky about it."

I did love the way her eyes lit up when she fought with me. It was the only way I could get passion out of her willingly. Apparently that comment had struck a cord with her, for her tone got a lot more righteous as I turned away. "I woke up this morning to learn that all the vampires have been released from the tomb. I've earned snarky."

"Ugh." I sighed, collapsing into my favorite chair. She wasn't angry about the tomb vampires, and she wasn't jealous- even though a sick, twisted part of me wished she was. "How long are you gonna blame me for turning your birth mother into a vampire?"

"I'm not blaming you Damon." She stalked forward, her best attempt at _my _smirk on her lips. "I've accepted the fact that you're a self serving psychopath with no redeeming qualities."

Her arms were crossed over her chest, pushing her breasts up as always. I kept my eyes trained on hers however, having commited the curves of her body to memory. There would be time to fantasize about her later, about that fire in her gaze tonight when I was alone in bed. Right now was not the time. "Ouch."

"This isn't being very productive." Stefan interjected. "We're gonna figure out a way to deal with Pearl and the vampires, yeah?"

The bickering moment over, I stood. I didn't want to deal with this anymore. It was going to be a long damn day as it was. I needed a shower and a new shirt, and I needed to get away from her. Her voice followed me even up the stairs. "I'm sorry, he just makes me so cranky."

I could imagine her wrapping her arms around him, resting her head against his chest. "I know," Stefan sighed comfortingly. "he makes everybody cranky."

I rolled my eyes, closing my bedroom door and tossing my jacket onto the edge of the bed. I could still hear her damn voice. "So, what are we gonna do?"

"Damon and I will handle everything, I promise."

"Well what about me?" she asked, almost shocked that he would expect her not to help. "I can't sit here and do nothing."

"That's exactly what you're gonna do, because that's what's going to keep you safe."

"Which means nothing if you're not safe too." Her devotion for baby brother made me want to bang my head against a wall.

"I'm perfectly safe. I have Damon, the self-serving psychopath on my side." I couldn't help smirking at that, who knew Stefan could be funny.

She sighed. "Well that's comforting." I grimaced, tugging my tshirt off and leaving it on the floor. So what if I was a self serving psychopath? At least I accepted who I was, unlike baby brother. The recovering blood-aholic was barely hanging on by a thread. I could see the bloodlust in his eyes everytime he caught a whiff of one of my blood bags. One wrong move by anyone and Saint Stefan would be off the wagon, something that none of us wanted. I'd seen just what kind of damage he could do, and since Lexi was no longer around to rehab his ass back on his bunny diet, the responsibility would fall to me. Something I did not have the time for right now. No, now I had to deal with Pearl and trust that she would help me find Katherine.

As the hot water beat over my neck and shoulders, I closed my eyes. I could still remember her smile, her laugh like it was yesterday...or was it Elena that I was picturing in my mind? Shaking me head I reached for the bottle of bodywash. That girl was a distraction, something else I could not afford to have in my life right now.

**(Elena's POV)- Gilbert House**

The rain still hadn't stopped, even though it was well past noon now. I was getting rather tired of this never ending storm. I was getting rather tired of this never ending drama. I moved across the hall to grab my ringing cell, hitting ignore when Damon's name flashed across the screen. I was not about to deal with him anymore today. I'd had my fill of Damon quota this morning at the Boarding House. I'd barely made it up two stairs when the knock at the door stopped me. Hoping it was Stefan, or anyone but Damon I moved to open it. He was through the door and in the house before I even got the chance to glimpse who it was. "You're ignoring me." He said, looking around the living room.

"The six missed calls? Sorry, my phone was dead." I hoped I wouldn't have to hold up a sarcasm sign for him to get the point.

He ignored my jab however, a curious sign that something wrong. He hardly ever passed up the chance at fighting with me. "Is Stefan here?"

"No." I caught the worry in his tone, even though he tried to hide it. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"He went out in the woods and didn't come back. I can't get him on his phone, I figured he was here with you."

Panic set my heart beating like crazy, something I was sure Damon could hear. I quickly pressed the speed dial button that would send my call straight to Stefan. It did a little half ring. "It's going straight to voicemail." I looked up at him, my mind rushing with the thousand possibilities of what could have gone wrong this time. "Where could he be?"

Damon's face was set in a tight expression, almost hard as stone. "You're not gonna like what I'm thinking."

"What is it?"

He looked over my face, probably to see if I could handle it. "Get in the car." He walked past me to the closet, grabbing my coat and throwing it at me.

"Where are we going?" I asked, slipping it on as he pulled open the door.

With a glance back over his shoulder he tried to smirk, but even in this moment he was too worried for that. "To get your boyfriend back."

Then he was gone into the rain. As a last minute thought I grabbed an umbrella, following him out to the Camaro.

* * *

><p>Damon was silent almost the entire ride. The normal rock music he had blasting through the speakers was turned very low. I kept just as quiet as he did, not sure what to say. I could hardly comfort him, or seek any reassurance. When we pulled up to the road a few feet from the house the tomb vampires were residing in, he set the car to park and turned the engine off, but didn't take the keys out of the ignition. Probably to make sure that I could get away if I needed to. Without thinking, I moved for the door handle, but he quickly reached out and stopped me. "You're not going anywhere."<p>

"Damon," I glared right back at him, though I doubted my gaze held anywhere near the amount of fire that his did. "I'm not going to just sit here and do nothing."

I watched a flash of something cross his face, but it was too quick for me to analyze it. "Yes you are."

Before I could say anything else, he was out of the car and I could do nothing but sit there.

**(Damon's POV)- Pearl's House**

I could see Elena's outline in the car through the rain. I was glad I'd parked her so far away from the house, even if it meant that my beloved leather jacket and I got soaked on the trip back and forth. I'd seen what they were doing to Stefan, basically torturing him. If it had been hard for me to see it, I couldn't even imagine how she would have reacted. She must have spotted me coming toward her, because she got out, opening the black umbrella over her head as she did. Her eyes were full of concern and I could hear the frantic beats of her heart. She hadn't been able to calm them, not that I could blame her. We met half way, the force of the rain overpowering the sunlight but not the scent of her perfume. "What happened?" she asked, coming straight to me, holding the umbrella over our heads. "Where is he?"

I couldn't tell her, at least not everything. "They have him, I can't get in." Feeling helpless was not a feeling that Damon Salvatore was accustomed to, and certainly not one that I planned on feeling often after all this was over. If I had to stake every last one of those vampires, I would. Even if it meant watching Elena live happily ever after with baby brother.

"Why not?" she didn't sound like she was about to cry, which surprised me. No, she sounded like she was as ready to get even as I was.

"Because the woman who owns the house was compelled to not let me in."

She nodded, understanding. "I can get in."

I grabbed her, holding her in place when she tried to get around me. "You're not going in."

"I'm going." She said stubbornly, her eyes both desperate and angry. Apparently she was about as much of a fan of feeling helpless as I was.

"You're not going in there." I repeated firmly, holding her tight. I was sure I was hurting her, but she didn't flinch and she didn't pull away.

"Why are they doing this? What do they want with him?"

"Revenge, they want revenge."

"We've gotta do something."

"I know." I looked back at the house. There had to be another way to get in there, and one that did not involve her.

"We can't let them hurt him, we've got to get him out of there."

"Elena, I know." I reached up, cradling her face. I wanted to comfort her; I wanted her to comfort me. Damon Salvatore didn't do scared anymore than he did helpless. I let her go quickly, not trusting myself not to do something stupid. "But I don't know how to get him out."

She looked at me as if she thought I had all the answers. I hated it when she looked at me like that. How was it possible that now, in this moment with the rain pouring down on us and my brother being tortured up in that house that all I could think about was kissing her? It would be easy, too easy to just pull her tight against my chest and close the distance between our lips. She would slap me again, that was a definite fact. It was almost worth the risk though, almost- but she loved Stefan. She was here for Stefan. I had to remember that, and I had to remember my place in her life. I was not the brother she would put her life on the line for. I was the brother that she hated, that she talked to only when she needed to. And who could blame her?

She shook her head, not ready to believe that there was no way to save him. "There has to be some way, someone that can get into that house."

I looked at her, couldn't help looking at her. The ends of her hair were wet and finally the smell of her perfume was getting faint. "There is one person…but I can't promise he will be willing."

"Who?" she sounded so desperate, she might have agreed to let the Devil himself help.

"Just come with me." I took her hand, pulling her back to the car.

**(Elena's POV)- Mystic Falls High**

We stood in Mr. Saltzman's classroom, and I was ready to beg. This was our first and last shot, which I was well aware of. Between Damon and I, we quickly explained the situation but my history teacher hardly looked like he was ready to jump at the chance to help the man that had turned his wife. Did he see her when he looked at me? "Stefan's in the house, Damon's a vampire so he can't get in. We need you. I would go but-"

"But your life is valuable." Damon cut me off, and I wished I could slap him. "Yours, on the other hand is…" Pissing off the only person that could do this wasn't the best idea. Maybe I should have made him wait outside.

"Stefan told me about your ring." I said, trying to get Alaric's attention back on me.

He moved his glare from Damon to a cautious look at me. "What about it?"

Again, Damon interjected. "Let me recap. You tried to kill me, I defended myself, you died. Then, according to my brother your ring brought you back to life. Am I, uh, leaving anything out?"

"Yeah," Ric pushed up from his chair, apparently as tired of Damon's monologue as I was. "the part where I try to kill you again. Only this time I don't miss."

Any other time, I would have loved to see Damon taken down a peg, but this moment was not the time. Stefan could be killed any moment. "Mr. Saltzman, please." I stepped forward, blocking him from going any closer to Damon. "It's Stefan."

"I'm sorry Elena." He looked down. "It's not my problem."

"That's a shame," Damon piped up, still leaning against the window. "because the woman in charge of the crowd can help you find your wife."

I looked at Damon quickly, not because I was surprised he'd said that but because I wasn't sure if I could believe him. Sure, Pearl had promised Katherine's location to him, but did she really know where my birth mother was too? Did Damon know already? Had he always known?

"You're lying." Alaric spoke, his tone laced with malice, yet hopeful disbelief.

"Am I?" Damon was next to me now, the familiar cocky arrogance rolling off him. "Why don't you ask her for yourself?" When Ric said nothing, Damon smirked. "Coward." I felt his fingers wrap around my elbow, pulling me to the door. We were really just going to leave? "Come on Elena."

I looked up to see Damon mouthing; 'One, two, thr-'

Before he could finish three, Mr. Saltzman spoke. "Alright wait…I'll go."

"Good." Damon crossed his arms over his chest.

I threw a glare at him. "Thank you." I stepped closer to the desk. "Really, thank you."

"I'm doing this for you, for this town." Alaric said, and then glanced up at Damon. "Not you."

"Hey," Damon shrugged, his hands up in surrender. "we'll take it."

"So, how are we going to do this?" I asked, hoping that making a plan would distract both men.

Alaric reached under his desk, pulling out a bag and unrolling it. There were quite a few odd weapons there, along with some carved wooden stakes. Definitely enough to do some damage in that house, which I could see from the appreciative-if not watchful- glint in Damon's eyes. He kept a careful gaze on where exactly Mr. Saltzman's hands were at all times. "Teacher by day, vampire hunter by night."

"I have you to thank for that." Alaric said pointedly.

"What are these?" I asked pointing at a line of thick silver needle looking things.

"Tranquilizer darts filled with vervain."

"Just get me in," Damon said, admiring a particularly sharp stake. "and I'll get Stefan out."

"That's your plan?" I turned to him. "You're just going to take them all on by yourself?"

"Well I'll be a bit stealthier than that, hopefully."

I shook my head, moving for one of the vervain darts. "Whoa," Ric reached out but didn't stop me. "what are you doing?"

"I'm going with you guys." I shrugged, as if that had been obvious all along, which to me it had been. I wasn't about to sit back and let Alaric go in there alone when we were the ones that made him agree to help us. And I certainly wasn't going to risk losing Damon too.

"No," Damon objected, going back to using the tone from before in the car. "no, no, no way."

"You need me." I reasoned, already seeing that he was having none of it. "I'll get in, you can distract them and then I'll get Stefan out."

He looked at me as if I was a little girl. "You'll get yourself killed, you're not going in there."

"I'm going." I repeated, wondering just how many times we were going to have this fight today.

He turned to Alaric, ignoring me as if I wasn't even in the room. "So when you get me in, get out as quickly as you can, because I know how to sneak around so they can't hear me. You'll basically just be in the way."

He sounded so smug, so cocky. I wondered for a second if Mr. Saltzman was going to punch him. "Now is not the time to be the Lone Ranger." I quipped instead, quite pissed that he thought he could keep bossing me around.

"Fine, Elena." He sighed, sounding almost bored. "You can drive the getaway car." He looked at me, his eyes doing that thing. The charm wasn't going to work on me tonight, no matter how many times he flashed those pearly, sharp whites.

"You can't stop me. It's Stefan we're talking about here. You don't understand."

"Oh I understand." He said quieter, his tone still very sarcastic however. "I understand. He's the reason you live, his love lifts you up where you belong." Then he dropped the act, his face set in stone again. "I get it."

He was so….ugh…frustrating. My hand could remember the lovely sting when I slapped him. It would be so simple, especially with how closely we were standing together. "Could you just not joke around for two seconds?"

"I can't protect you Elena." He said, finally losing his temper. "I don't know how many vampires there are in there." He snapped his fingers. "That's how long it takes you to get your head ripped off. I have to be able to get in and get out; I can't be distracted with your safety. Or this will end up in a blood bath that none of us walk away from. Including Stefan." With that, he won. He had suffeciantly scared me into silence, and he didn't even have to use compulsion to do it. "I know," he said gently. "I get it…I understand."

I wasn't sure if he understood what I was feeling because he was just as worried about his brother as I was, or if he got it because he knew what being in love with someone that could be dead or dying was like. Either way, his words held marginal comfort. Mr. Saltzman gave us a moment, waiting to see if the fight was over. When neither of us spoke again, he did. "If we're gonna go, let's go."

Damon nodded, reaching out to squeeze my arm for a split second. I looked up, watching them leave me alone in the classroom. If they really thought that I was going to just sit in the car, they were stupid.

* * *

><p>I gave them fifteen minutes, before I started freaking out. A large branch from a nearby tree falling on the windshield didn't exactly help me want to stay in the car. I decided right then and there that I couldn't just sit here and do nothing. What if there were too many vampires and they overpowered Damon? What if they killed Alaric? There were too many things to go wrong, too many possibilities that were going to drive me crazy if I just stayed in the car. Carefully, I reached into the bag and pulled out one of the vervain darts I'd been eyeing before. Then I followed the muddy trail, through the rain and up to the house. I didn't hear anything, no loud shouts or crashing furniture- which could mean that it was already over, that they were already dead or that they just hadn't been discovered yet. I moved carefully, staying low and slinking against the house.<p>

The sky was still gray, the rain still pouring but it didn't give much cover. I heard a voice, remembered it as the guy that had called me Katherine in the Grill. "Billy, Jacob; get back in here."

The back door shut and I quickly moved across the porch, down the steps and into the cellar. The gate was open, and I slipped through it, but when I reached the door I found it locked. Pulling my sleeve over my hand, I broke the window. My heart skipped a beat and I took a split second to wonder if anyone could have heard that. Then I was through the door and peeking around the corner. A vampire was sitting on a stool in the corner, earphones blaring rock through his brain. Either he must have heard me, or even saw me because he stood up and started moving toward me. I held my breath, pressing myself flat against the wall, gripping the dart tightly in my hand. Any second he would find me, any second now…

I heard the shuffle of another set of feet, and then the sound of a body falling to the ground. I stepped out to see Damon, anger and frustration clear on his face even in the dark hallway. "Are you insane?" he demanded, looking like he was ready to strangle me for good measure.

"I couldn't just sit there."

He groaned, reaching out for my arm and dragging me closer to him, then down the hall. "That is exactly what you were supposed to do."

"We don't have time for this." I tried to shake his grip off, but it was impossible. When we came to the end, he faced me towards a door.

"After you."

I looked at him, then rushed in, seeing Stefan wounded and tied to the roof. "Elena," he sounded so weak. "you shouldn't be here."

Damon was right behind me. "She was supposed to stay in the car." He faced a young looking vampire in a chair, a stake ready in his hand.

"No," Stefan defended. "not him."

"Whatever," Damon turned away. Apparently he was ready to leave. "let's get you down."

"There's vervain on the ropes." he choked out, and Damon stepped back.

"Elena, pull that."

I obeyed, moving to pull the knot loose. "Alright, let's go." Damon ordered, moving back to the door. "Clothes on."

"Wait."

"What? Guys come on, we have to get out of here." Damon sounded impatient, and even a little scared. Stefan leaned down, pulling on of the stakes from the vampire's thigh, even as I threw his shirt over his shoulders.

"The other one." He whispered at me and I pulled the second stake, my blood turning a degree colder when the vampire cried out.

I helped Stefan to the door, Damon checking to see if the coast was clear. "Can you get him in the car?"

"Yeah." I nodded, doing my best to support as much of Stefan's weight as I could.

"Alright, go."

"What about you?"

He stepped into the next doorway, the one that led back into the house. "You rescue, I'll distract. Go."

I looked back, ready to demand he come with us, but he was gone and the door was already closed. Stefan let out a groan and I knew I couldn't go back for him, at least not until I got Stefan outside.

**(Damon's POV)- Boarding House**

I grabbed a glass from the bar, doing my best not to listen in on the conversation that was going on between them upstairs. Stefan seemed a lot better already, which was a good sign. It was clear what had happened between them in those woods. I could smell her blood on him from the moment I got in the car. Now we were home, and they were upstairs and I was in the den, drinking…alone. As usual. I moved over to the fireplace slowly, listening anyway. She came down the stairs slowly, the look on her face made it look like she was almost in shock. I stepped forward, but when she glanced at me, I stayed frozen in place. "What, what is it?"

She just stared at me for a minute. "Caroline found Vicki's body."

Her bottom lip trembled slightly and I wondered if she was going to cry. "Do you…do you want me to drive you somewhere?"

She shook her head slowly. "No, I've got my car."

"Elena," I stepped forward. "I can take you."

"Good night Damon." She whispered, closing the front door behind her.

It took me two minutes to decide to follow her. I stayed a mile behind, my headlights off. She reached Matt's safely, and after I made sure she was inside I drove to the Grill. Alaric was less then pleased to see me, even after our double team action. His fist to my jaw hurt, but probably not as much as he would have liked. Given some time, perhaps he would get over the fact that I'd turned Isobel. Given some time, perhaps he would understand why she'd done what she'd done. After all, the women in that line could just not stay away from us Salvatore men apparently. First Katherine, then Isobel…and now Elena. The latest in the long Petrova line was set to haunt my dreams for another night, that I could tell so I stayed at the Grill for a few more drinks and racked up my tab.

I couldn't go home yet, I couldn't deal with Stefan's martyr routine on a sober brain, not after the day I'd had.

When I got home however and saw the empty blood bags spread around the room, I decided that perhaps a brooding Stefan would have been a much better option that an off the wagon Stefan.

_a/n: well this will definitely be my last posting before I leave. I will hopefully get some time to write while I am gone, but as I need a bit of a vacation I will not be going hog wild ;) I'm hoping I will have at least one new chapter ready for you on the 19__th __or 20__th__. Hope you all have a great two weeks and I will 'see' you all when I get back._

_As always, my request box is open, so feel free to overwhelm me with any and all ideas. When I get home, I want to start working on reaching my 200 goal. Can we do it by the end of this year? Love you all._


	6. Chapter 6

_a/n: It's been a lot of fun and a lot of work going back through the episodes and doing all this. The first season is really shaky for Damon and Elena, so there isn't a lot of scenes of them together, but there are enough to show the connection between the two._

(Elena's POV)-Boarding House

My morning had been interesting already, talking to Isobel's high school friend. I needed to just sit down and tell someone all about it, someone that would understand. "Stefan?" I called, looking around his room.

"Better," Damon's voice caught my attention. "me." He walked toward me, half naked and very drunk.

"You look, um…"

"Dashing? Gorgeous? _Irresistible_?" He was right in my face, looking all of those things and smelling just as good. Except for his whiskey breath.

"Wrecked." I bent back, keeping the distance between us. "You look wrecked."

"No reason why." He shrugged, and I had to work very hard to keep my eyes up and on his face. "Do you know that I am one of Mystic Falls' most eligible bachelors?"

"Huh."

"Yep." He turned away, giving me an unjudged moment to admire the muscled lines of his back. It looked exactly like the back that should be scratched during sex, no doubt sex that he'd probably been having over and over with nameless women since what had happened in the tomb a few nights ago. Stefan had said that he'd been a little out of it.

"How are you doing?"

"Never better." He sighed, pulling on a shirt. "What can I do for you? I'm a barrel of favors today." I watched his reflection in the mirror as his fingers fumbled with the buttons. He was far worse than wrecked. "It's my newfound purpose, how can I help people?"

"I'm just meeting Stefan. We're going to the fundraiser."

He sighed, giving up and turning around. "Help a guy out will you? I can't get this."

I came around him, doing the buttons up. My fingers ached to touch him, knew just how easy it would be to 'accidently' brush against his skin. "So I found out who my birth mother is."

"Ugh, who cares." His less than appreciative response had my smile shrinking and my heart falling. "She left you," he said, our eyes connecting. "she sucks."

I looked up, seeing Stefan at the door. I went to him, thankful for the excuse to get away from Damon. His reaction had hurt, but he was in more pain and I couldn't slap him when he was already down. He groaned, sliding into his leather coat. "Ugh, I need a bigger jacket. Wow, you know an occasional sorority girl might, um, you know help fill you out a little bit."

I watched him go, wondering just what it was about him that made it impossible for me to hate him.

(Damon's POV)-The Grill

Little Miss 'I'm on a Mission' was back, and ran right into my on my way to the bathroom. "Whoa, easy there. Buy a ticket like everyone else." I smirked at my own joke, not noticing how upset she was at first, then pretending not to care.

"Did you enjoy that?" she was practically snarling, a sight I'd seen before but wasn't entirely used to. "Rubbing it in to Alaric Saltzman?"

"What?" If there was one thing I did not enjoy, it was being confused. It was normally the very reason I usually listened when she talked, but the last few days had all been a blur and if there was something she was upset about, I'd missed it.

"Just as I was starting to think there was something redeemable about you."

"Elena." Stefan's tone was warning from behind me, but she seemed to ignore it.

"Am I missing something here?" I asked, looking between them.

"Did I forget to mention earlier when we were talking about my birth mother, the one that gave me up?"

"Mhmm?"

"Her name was Isobel." She glared at me and my blood turned cold as I realized just why she was so angry. "Go ahead, reminisce about how you killed her."

She brushed past me, leaving an entirely new sick feeling in my stomach. It felt shockingly like guilt, something I hadn't felt in a long time.

(Elena's POV)- Gilbert House

I heard the knock at the door, running to it before Jeremy could move from the kitchen table. I knew it would be Damon on the other side, but I wasn't fully relieved until I saw his face once I opened the door. It wasn't that I didn't want to see Stefan after what happened last night, I just…well I guess I just didn't want to see Stefan. He wasn't the Stefan I knew, the one I loved. Last night, the look on his face had scared me, shocked me. The lust in his eyes had been of an entirely different kind, one I had never seen before but was smart enough to realize what it meant. He wanted me, or rather my blood and he'd wanted it badly. Whether it was love or fear that had helped him throw himself away from me didn't matter, what mattered was how long he would be able to control himself and if I had to be afraid to be alone with him. "Oh good," I sighed, taking in the sight of Damon in the late morning light. There was a faint glow to the ends of his hair, the scent of his cologne already tickling my nose. "you're here."

"You ask I come." He smirked faintly, stepping into the house, not waiting for an invitation probably just to prove on some level that he didn't need one. "I'm easy like that." I closed the door behind him, my finger pressed to my lips. I didn't need Jeremy hearing any of his nonsense. My brothers eyes glanced up, but held no interest. I realized my hand was wrapped around Damon's arm and let go, stepping away toward the stairs. "No Elena," Damon called loudly, clearly for Jeremy's benefit. "I will not go to your bedroom with you."

I rolled my eyes, reaching for his arm and dragging him up the stairs. Did he always have to be so damn annoying? And how could I honestly bring myself to stand him after all he had done? Yes, we'd bonded over saving Stefan, yes we'd shared a sizzling moment in the rain…but he'd killed my mother. He'd…he was Damon Salvatore and he was infuriating. That was what I had to focus on. When we reached the landing, he needed no more guidance and opened the door by himself as if he had been in my bedroom a hundred times. The feeling unnerved me a little, his next comment made my hands itch to slap him. "Ah, just like I remembered."

I glared at the back of his head, knowing there was a slap worthy smirk curling his lips. "Stop messing around."

I closed the door, turning to find him jumping onto my bed, Teddy in his arms. Great, now my pillows would smell like him, and my blanket, and my Teddy.

"Did you know that your uncle's been kicking it with the Founder's Council?" he asked, partly teasing, partly clearly annoyed, one arm behind his head as he got quite comfortable on my mattress. Less than 48 hours in town and Uncle John already had more people on his hate list.

"What?"

"Yep." He answered, looking around.

"Perfect, we'll just add it to the growing list of how everything is falling apart." I tried to keep my tone light, but the sarcasm dripped out anyway. My heart sped up a little when his eyes settled on the broken lamp; thankfully the only casualty of Stefan's little freak out.

"What happened right there?" he asked, one eye squinting as he used Teddy's arm to point at the 'crime scene'.

I glanced over, wondering if I should lie, if I could lie and make it convincing. But I'd asked him over here to help me and if he was going to do that, he needed to know what was going on with his brother. "Nothing." I tried, but the look on his face told me he knew I was full of shit. I could hardly say; 'Well last night Stefan and I were getting pretty hot and heavy, and when I got a little dominant his control snapped and he wanted to drain me.' Hardly the conversation starter that would keep his temper level. "Look Damon, I'm worried about Stefan." If I hadn't been so upset, it would have been hard to keep a straight face. Seeing big, bad Damon Salvatore on my bed with my Teddy, fiddling with his furry arms as if he was waving at me was almost comical. I would not admit cute…no Damon Salvatore could never be cute…could he? "He says that everything is okay, but he's clearly struggling. How long is it going to take before he's back to normal?"

Damon shrugged. "A few days, give or take."

"It's a been a few days." I reminded him, getting impatient at his lack of interest.

"Give then." He looked almost annoyed with me. "What's the big deal?"

I watched as he rose from the bed, glaring for a moment at the dirt his black boots had left on my blanket. Teddy was shoved against my chest as Damon moved past me. "He's not himself Damon."

I tossed the poor, nearly molested bear back on the bed, apologizing to my childhood toy inwardly. "Well," Damon said as he rustled through the drop drawer of my bureau. "maybe his problem is he's spent too long not being himself." I watched as he pulled out a simple, almost embarrassingly innocent bra and made a pleased sound about it. At least he hadn't found the red lace one Caroline had bought me for my birthday.

I grabbed it from him, shoving it back in the drawer and shutting it before he could find anything else. "Please don't make me sorry for asking you."

Like a bored five year old, he reached out to the mirror and grabbed a photo. Could he not just be still and listen? Did he always have to be doing something with his hands? "It is what it is Elena."

"Hey." I tried to reach for it, but he turned, blocking my hands even as I moved around him.

"The Stefan you know was 'Good Behavior Stefan'. 'Rein-it-in-Stefan', 'Fight Against His Nature to an Annoyingly Obsessive Level Stefan'." He rolled his eyes, not like he was disgusted with his brother, but as if he was trying to pretend he wasn't as worried as I was. I moved forward slowly, my eyes stayed locked with his, but my fingers were locked on their target of the photo he was still holding."But if you think there's not another part to this, then you…have not been paying attention." I grabbed onto the picture, ignoring the teasing sound he made with his tongue. Was he really chastising me at a time like this?

"He is not you." I said, cut and dry. It was meant to insult him, to keep the barrier between us up even as his charm fought it down. It was so unfair he could frustrate me, piss me off and tempt me all at the same time. "Not even close."

I turned away to restore the photo to its place on the mirror. I could feel his eyes boring into my back, probably wondering what bra I was wearing right now. "Well he doesn't want to be me;" I heard him moving closer, knew he could hear the beats of my heart move just a little bit faster. "but that doesn't mean that deep down, he's not." We were face to face now, our eyes battling. Did he see the insecurity in my eyes? The worry that perhaps he was right after all.

I heard the little 'mhmm' slip out as he smirked, knowing that he'd once this battle, at least for the moment. I didn't stop him from leaving, and he didn't bother to try and stay. When my door was closed behind him and I was sure he was far enough way not to hear me, I let out a growl and threw myself on the bed, squashing Teddy beneath me. With a grunt, I pulled the bear out and look him in his little black eyes. His sewn mouth used to smile, but now he seemed to almost be smirking. I groaned, burying my face in a pillow, only to inhale Damon's scent. In a instant I was up off the bed, as so were the blankets, pillows and sheets. I couldn't stand the thought of putting poor Teddy through the horror of the washing machine after what he'd already been through so he got to stay. I tossed everything in and added a healthy amount of fabric softner, hoping it would erase any trace of Damon Salvatore.

Damon's POV- Lockwood Mansion

As the bartender handed me a drink, I heard the sudden change in the music. It wasn't something I would have chosen to dance to, especially if Elena was the one I wanted to dance with, but it was better than the riff raff playing before. She stood there, watching as Stefan pulled her ex-boyfriends mom onto the floor. Awkward didn't even begin to cover the description of this town. Slowly, and carefully I sauntered over to her, wondering just what my opening line should be. This morning we'd ended on normally level terms and she'd seemed to have let the whole 'Isobel thing' go, for at least the moment. No doubt I would find that little indiscretion biting me in the ass again though. "Have I entered an alternate universe where Stefan is fun?"

She glanced up at me, her face almost blank of any emotion. At least she was blatantly disappointed to find me at her side. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"Eventually." I watched baby brother, almost happy he was having a little fun. Brooding Stefan got so…obnoxious sometimes. What I wouldn't give to have some fun with him. We would make a great team if he would only give into his nature. After all, wasn't that what he'd promised me all those many, many nights ago? That it would be us against the world? Now who was the liar? "One way or another."

The night went on, and with one little brother being an issue came another. Wasn't it bad enough I had to worry about mine falling off the wagon and ripping off everyone's head in town? Now I had to worry about little Gilbert asking too many questions and poking too many holes in graves I'd apparently not dug deep enough. I needed a drink, another much, much stronger one than the now empty glass I'd just shared with Liz. If it wasn't one Gilbert causing a problem in my life, it was another. I was losing sleep over Elena, patience over Jeremy and now I might be getting chased out of town by the new and infuriating Uncle John. Ugh, just the thought of the 'Jackass' had my skin crawling. And I'd been being so good lately too. "Bourbon." I nodded, taking the fresh glass as Elena sauntered up behind me.

Did she always saunter, or was it just recently? "Have you noticed what your brother's been up to tonight?"

"No, I've been too preoccupied with yours." She looked at me, slightly confused. "Jeremy's been asking questions about Vicki Donovan's death."

She shook her head, apparently out of room in her life for any more drama. Poor little girl, about to get another problem added to the list. "He knows her death was ruled an overdose."

"Really?" I lowered my tone a few notches, doing my best at imitating a prepubescent teen. "Oh but Sherriff, somebody buried her. Who would do that? I know, I know." I glared at her, back to myself. "Me! I mean I could compel him, but he's wearing vervain."

"No, I don't want you to compel him."

"If he keeps asking questions…"

"Damon, no. I'm serious. I'm not gonna do that to him again. I'll handle it."

I turned away, knowing there was no arguing with her today. She'd won the first battle this morning, and she was going to win this one too. My eyes settled on the vase of flowers, my fingers working almost on their own as they reached out and plucked one of the stems from the bundle. The petals were red, not quite blood red. I bent to smell them, comparing the scent to her perfume. It wasn't even close to as sweet or tempting. "Okay." I sighed, holding it out to her and sliding slightly closer. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

She took the rose from me, surprising me. I walked away, giving her time to adjust to the new ideas swimming around in her mind. At the doorway I stopped, looking back at her. She put the petals up to her nose, breathing in the scent. I ached to know what she was thinking, what she feeling. As if coming out of a shock she stood straight, looking around to see if anyone was watching her. Had she been thinking about me? Just how often did she think about me? I watched as she slipped the rose into her purse and disappeared into the crowd, probably in search of Stefan.

Elena's POV- Miss Mystic Falls

I jumped, my heart in my throat when I spotted Damon's reflection in the mirror. Would he have continued to just stand there as I changed into my gown? The dark black of his suit and tie brought out the startling blue of his eyes even more than I remembered, or could it have been the glint of my blue silk reflecting in them? "Hey, you can't be in here."

"We need to talk." He didn't sound pleased and I felt like this was a conversation I should be sitting down for, and one that would take longer than a few minutes.

"Does it have to be right now?" I asked, waving my dress slightly as a hint. Could we not have one day, one single afternoon even that didn't involve the end of the world?

He sighed, moving forward. It was a familiar move, and one that I often tried to counter. He was always trying to get in my bubble. Personal space meant nothing to Damon Salvatore. "Normally I would have a completely different outlook on what I'm about to tell you but since it could really inconvience me…I'll squeal."

I wasn't sure if he was trying to be funny or if his 'holier than thou' routine was just so natural to him by now that he hardly noticed he was doing it. Either way I kind of wanted to slap him. "What are you talking about?"

My smile faded the second the words left his lips. "Stefan's still drinking human blood."

At first I didn't really comprehend what he meant, partly because it was such a shock. Stefan had lied? I couldn't believe it was possible…but Damon said it so matter of factly it just had to be true. What was wrong with me? Doubting the honest brother and believing the lying one? "What?"

"Yeah." He shrugged slightly, looking a little lost for the moment. "A month ago, I would've rejoiced but with the Council back on the alert it is not a good time for Stefan to fly off the handle."

I knew that there was more to the story than they were both telling me. There was an underlying fear both brothers had for an off the wagon Stefan. Could the kind hearted man I knew, that I loved really be that bad on human blood? I mean, Damon was…well Damon, and he drank all the time. How could Stefan be any different, any worse? "I know he's been a little edgy, but he said that was normal."

Damon wasn't going to tell me everything, and I knew that; but he would tell me enough to scare me. After all, a little fear was healthy if one was to survive. I just couldn't imagine being afraid of Stefan. Damon was the one I was supposed to be afraid of, but right now he was the most stable thing in my life, which told me how truly messed up everything was. "He has a fridge of stolen blood-bank contraband in the house."

I was right, this was a conversation I would have to sit down for. My knees threatened to buckle beneath me so I moved to the brown satin couch before I ended up on the floor. "Oh my God."

Damon turned, following me. I could see it in his eyes that he wanted to comfort me, but we both knew there was no time for that. Stefan could be feeding right now, and I had a dress to put on, a pointless ceremony to attend. "He has no idea what normal is, his entire existence isn't normal." I looked up at him, still hoping that this was all just a joke, another one of Damon's lies. It wasn't and that made me a little sick. "Normal to a vampire is drinking human blood, but he's spent all this time fighting it, when he should have been learning to control it. And now it's controlling him instead."

I shook my head. "I can't believe this, I mean…it's Stefan that we're talking about here."

"Stefan on human blood, Elena. He'll do anything, he'll say anything…because he's not gonna want to stop. Trust me."

And that is what scared me most of all.

Damon's POV- Miss Mystic Falls

I watched from my place with the other men as Caroline came down the stairs in green silk. She looked amazing, like a perfect Malibu Barbie; minus the Malibu part. I'd heard her and Elena's conversation up on the landing, could see that Stefan was nowhere in sight. "Miss Elena Gilbert, escorted by Mr. Stefan Salvatore."

George Lockwood stepped back and applause sounded as all eyes turned up to the stairs including mine. I watched Elena take a deep breath in and try to force a smile on her face. She was brave, so brave and yet terrified at the same time. And even more so, she was beautiful. I'd seen Katherine come down these same stairs on more than one occasion looking an entirely different kind of beautiful, but the same Petrova enchantment was there and I found myself wishing I was the one that would be waiting for her as she stepped down. Stefan still didn't appear, and I could see the worry in her eyes, the anxious panic that was ruining her pretty features. I would not let my brother ruin this moment for her. In a quick, smooth move I slid over and stepped into Stefan's place. Our eyes connected and her lips quirked up in a smile just slightly.

I would not read into that, not right now. She stepped down onto the landing. "Where's Stefan?" she whispered.

"I don't know." I whispered back, holding out my hand for her. She took it smoothly as if we'd rehearsed this a thousand times.

I could feel everyone's eyes on us, on me. They were wondering where Stefan was, what I was doing with her and what it all meant that we'd been thrown together. We stepped out onto the porch, the sunlight shining in broken patterns over the freshly painted white wood. The air smelled clean and fresh, and flowery thanks to her scent. I guided her into place beside Caroline and stepped into the spot where Stefan was supposed to be standing. Thankfully, I knew this dance and took a moment to thank the Mystic Falls Council for keeping everything traditional. Everyone leaned forward, bowing to their partner in an act of sacrifice. Dances like this were beautiful, and startilingly intimate for the lack of touching that went on with them. The power to caress, to communicate want and need with only a person's eyes was not a talent that everyone had, but I knew that we could pull it off.

We'd done it almost every time we looked at each other. "What are we gonna do?" she asked, leaning close to me.

"Right now we just have to get through this." She nodded, stepping back and holding her back straight.

Everyone's eyes were still on us, but she didn't seem to notice, or she really didn't care. The music picked up slightly as our hands rose palm to palm, a good few inches between them still. Of course, we'd both had our training, but the synchrony of our bodies was perfect. She stepped, I stepped. Around once, back in place and then exactly the same only opposite hands, opposite direction. The flashbacks to Katherine were almost impossible to miss, but I did my best to keep thoughts of her at bay. This was Elena I was dancing with, Elena I was connecting with and I wasn't sure I'd ever seen her look more beautiful. I couldn't help smiling as she looked at me, her expression not exactly amused but…something. She was thinking…something, and for once it was about me. I could tell, at least that she was completely focused on me, on us and this moment.

Back in place, and this time both our palms were out, turning in the same direction as the first circle. Our eyes flirted, they battled and I wondered if she could see all the images my mind was playing in them. It was useful she couldn't read my mind, for if she could I'm sure she would have slapped me. My thoughts were far from demeaning, but they were intimate. One more time back in place, and then we stepped together, breaking tradition and joining hold. Her lean body fit tightly against mine, the cool silk fabric of her dress warm in the places it touched her, her skin even warmer where she touched me. I could feel how nervous she was, the slight tremor in her body as we settled into each others arms. Her arm was on my shoulder, the pressure barely even there at first.

I guided her along the floor, our steps sure and perfect. How was it even possible that we were this aware of each other? Finally, I got a smile out of her. A small, perfect smile. I wasn't sure I'd ever seen a real one before, and God it made her look even more beautiful. My fingers tightened on her waist as hers pressed firmer on my shoulder. We could have danced for a minute or a year and it would never have been long enough. The song was ending though, and we moved back to the spot where we'd started. Everyone moved back, and then she was hesitantly releasing her hold on me, moving back beside Caroline. The smile was still on her lips, and for once I was the one that put it there.

Elena's POV- Miss Mystic Falls

Caroline stepped off stage to be congratulated by everyone and I sighed in relief. Thank God they hadn't chosen me. My eyes searched for Damon in the crowd, relieved to find him off against the back wall. He'd disappeared almost immediately after our dance. That dance…it had been…was magical a big enough word? As I moved toward him, I could see in his face that what we'd just shared was the last thing on his mind and I guiltily pushed it back as he had. I went to him, his fingers wrapping around my arm. Normally I flinched or jumped at his touch, but now I was used to it, was comforted by the feel of his skin on mine. "What is it?" I asked as he pulled me into a darker section of the hall. "Did you find him?"

The smile he'd had on his face while we were dancing was gone. That Damon was gone, only to be replaced by the worried, concerned Damon I was not yet completely used to. "There were signs of a struggle in the upstairs bathroom. There was blood, and that Amber girl is missing."

I felt sick again, that dizzy sick I felt when Stefan and I had been arguing upstairs. "Oh my God." I remembered how upset he'd been. "No, he wouldn't hurt her. He won't."

Was I trying to convince Damon, or myself? He shook his head, trying to keep me calm. "Let's just go find him okay? Let's get your coat. Come on."

Once we were outside, the cool night air stung my face and eyes. How had it gotten dark so quickly? Had dinner really taken that long? I heard the screams first, then the low growls and took of running, Damon right behind me. I could feel the spike heels of my shoes digging into the dirt, threatening to trip me as I hugged my coat closer. "Stefan!" I called out, hoping my voice would be enough to bring him out of this, whatever this was.

"Stefan." Damon stepped forward, in front of me as if he was keeping me from Stefan's line of sight. It was his brother's voice he responded to. "Come on, get control of it. Come on." He sounded like a father tempting a child away from a fire. "It's okay, come on." I barely recognized him like this. His face terrified me and I wanted to slink away. There was blood dripping from his lips, his eyes red with lust as he fought to control his hunger. Possibly even fought to keep from lunging over his brother for my blood. I shivered even more violently in my coat, the coldness now in my veins and I realized just what kind of monster Damon had been trying to warn me about. What Stefan had been trying to protect me from. Himself. "Breath through it man." Damon inched closer, his arms out to protect me, to grab Stefan if he tried to run for it but it ended up being Damon that was thrown through the air.

I watched as Stefan turned to face him, growling like an animal; not even aware of what he'd just done to his brother. "Stefan, stop it." I cried out, but he didn't hear me. Didn't even see me.

I saw the battle stance Damon took on as Stefan moved towards him, but then he was crying out in pain, his hands cradling his head. I looked back to see Bonnie, her gaze locked on Stefan and I knew it was her doing. When she stopped, Stefan silenced apparently coming out of his haze. He looked down at Amber's body, at me, his brother. There was horror in his eyes, guilt but they were still red. He was still hungry. I wanted to reach out to him, but then again, I really didn't. "Stefan, it's okay." Damon's voice was soft again but Stefan just turned and ran. He was gone, but I knew I would never be able to forget the sight of this side of Stefan. Not even if he never drank a drop of human blood again, the damage he'd done tonight would be impossible for me forgive.

Damon's POV- Boarding House

I waited on the stairs, listening to Stefan scream at Elena. It took all my self control not to rush into the room when I heard him slam her against the wall. Her heart rate exploded in her chest as fear shot into her blood stream. He was out of control, and he could easily kill her in a moment. "You're gonna be okay." I heard her whisper, and then a moment later Stefan collapsed on the ground.

I came out of the shadows, seeing the vervain dart sticking out of his side. I looked from it to her, seeing the fear in her eyes. "Are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure." She nodded.

I bent down, lifting my brother into my arms and carrying him downstairs. The cell next to the vervain storage was empty and I placed him in it, making sure the lock was good enough to hold him there. She stood with her back tight against the wall, looking almost blankly at the cell door. "There's no guarantee this will work." I told her, wanting to be honest. Wanting to prepare her for the probable, possible worst.

"It has to."

"Coming?" I asked and she shook her head.

"I'm gonna stay here." I watched her sink to the ground and battled within myself. It took only a moment for me to decide and I sat too. We didn't speak, and we barely moved. I watched her off and on for the next few hours, keeping my thoughts to myself. When she finally fell asleep I stood once more and carried her upstairs. I could have taken her home, or even to Stefan's room but instead I laid her on the couch and poured myself a drink. The firelight played over her face and I took a seat in the arm chair across from her. She'd seen things tonight I'd never wanted her to see, things she would never forget. I knew she would probably have nightmares, and if she did I would be there to tell her everything was going to be okay.

Even if I didn't believe it myself.

_a/n: I truly believe that the moment their eyes connected as Elena walked down the stairs was the defining moment for Delena. If Stefan had been there, if he'd been standing there waiting for her then the connection between our favorite couple wouldn't have been this strong. Elena wouldn't know just how much Damon cared for her. After all it wasn't the first time that he saved her, but it was one of the most important. Sorry it took so long for this chapter to be posted. More to come._


	7. Chapter 7

_a/n: I hope I don't sound greedy when I say this, but the lack of interest in this story kind of worries me a little. It's a lot of work to go back and do this scene by scene and while I enjoy it, I write for you guys as much as I write for me. I suppose I find it odd that something like this is receiving less views than some of my one shots. Is it too boring? Honestly? I was considering doing all three seasons, but with the way things are going, I'm not sure I should be wasting my time on it if there is barely anyone out there reading. I could be working on other fics and my personal novels. Gosh, I hope that doesn't sound bitchy, because I promise I don't mean it to be.  
><em>_For those few of you out there that have actually taken the time to review, thank you so much. Enjoy this latest chapter in the Delena files haha_

_p.s. this chapter also includes a little something extra. A scene told from someone else's POV. Just to switch it up a little._

(Damon's POV)-Boarding House

Elena had woken up, gone home to change and was now back at her post just outside Stefan's cell door, where she had basically stayed for the last three days. A faint groan came from inside and she was up in an instant, her little nose poking through the bars as she tried to see inside. "He's awake Damon." She whispered and I pushed myself up, unlocking the door.

She rushed inside, going to him and sinking to her knees. I could see the fear still in her eyes, as if she didn't completely trust him. She didn't touch him, just called his name. I followed her in, standing behind her and looking down at my brother. His eyes were open and trained on us, but it was like he couldn't even really see us. His lips were moving silently, as if he was mumbling. I thought at first I heard my name. "Stefan?" I asked, but he didn't respond. "Stefan?"

"Stefan?" Elena reached out her hand hesitantly; let it hover over his arm before she snatched it back. Foolish of her, to be afraid of him now that he was in this state, but I took comfort in the fact that at least she realized what I'd been trying to warn her about. "I love you Stefan." She whispered, her hand finally resting on his shoulder, her long fingers caressing him.

I watched his eyes rolled back, then closed. When he opened them again, it was clear that he wasn't with us. He was far away, seeing things that weren't there. I reached for her, my hands tight on her shoulders and lifted her up."Come on."

She let me guide her out of the cell, both of us looking back as I closed the door. The lock fit back together nicely, her hands wrapped around the bars as she looked through them. I'd warned her that Stefan's detox was going to be hard on him, but I don't think she fully realized it until the moment. With another groan, Stefan rolled over, his back facing us. He could have been awake or asleep, either way he was silent. "It's so hard to see him locked up like this."

"You're the one that locked him up." I reminded her, earning a glare.

"You helped."

"I couldn't have him running around chewing on people while the town was looking for vmapires now could I?"

She turned to face me, her expression smug as if she knew something I didn't. "It had nothing to do with you actually caring about him?"

"You're thing, not mine." I couldn't stand the musty smell in the air anymore and turned to go back upstairs, surprised that she actually followed me.

It was clear to both of us that we weren't going to be getting much of anywhere with Saint Stefan this morning, so she decided she was going to leave. I hardly wanted to be alone in the house, but I couldn't exactly ask her to stay either. She had a life, friends, school. It wasn't her fault that I had nothing- well not nothing…there was always this ridiculous Gilbert device that not even Pearl knew what it did. I reached for it, taking it from the desk. Behind me, Elena sighed. "Did you figure out what that is?"

"Nope." I shook my head, contemplating throwing it against the wall. "Whatever it is, it doesn't work."

"Pearl didn't say anything else about it?"

"She thought she was stealing his vampire compass, but it was a pocket watch. That Jonathan Gilbert was a crazy scientist." She gave the slightest laugh, folding her change of clothes into her bag. I wasn't going to ask how long she was thinking of staying here, but from the looks of the small wardrobe she bought, it was a fair amount of nights. No complaints here. "Have you spoken to your uncle lately?"

"I've been avoiding him actually. That and I've been here most nights."

"So you'll be here again tonight?" I asked, unable to hide the creepy tone to my voice, but either she didn't notice or she found it amusing. All the time we'd spent together lately may have not improved her opinion of me, but she had managed to find a way of making my presence tolerable.

"Is that a problem?"

"Yes." I turned to her, careful to do the eye thing I'd learned last night made her smile. "You are a complete nuisance."

She laughed, sliding her bag onto her shoulder. "I'll see you later."

I didn't watch her go, but I did listen carefully until I heard the engine of her car start. I wouldn't tell her that Stefan should have been out of the cell by now, that he'd by far gotten all the human blood out of his system. Something else was going on with baby brother, and I would have to try and figure it out before she got back tonight. A few hours passed and my boredom got the best of me so I went out to the woods behind the house and found a fat white rabbit. My insides churned at the idea of what I was about to do, and shook my head disgusted. How could Stefan do this and call it humane? Poor defensless little animals. I pushed the disgust aside and pounced, a few minutes later, marching back into the house with a brand new bunny. I thought of simply throwing the thing into him, but considered a bottle to be more suitable for the cell mate.

He denied it, which pissed me off a little. After all the trouble I'd gone through. Fine, if he wanted to starve himself to death, he could go right ahead. Upstairs once again, the phone rang and to my surprise Mr. History Teacher was on the other end mumbling about an address and his long lost wife. Isobel; Elena's mother…now she had been an adventure, although short lived. So the professor wanted to go on a little scavenger hunt? Alright, I'd bite…but before I could agree Elena interrupted me on call waiting. I considered ignoring the call, but I wanted to hear her voice. Oh God, I sounded like one of those love sick idiots in a Nicholas Sparks novel. "What?" I answered in a drawl.

"I'm just grabbing some clothes and then I'll be right over. How's Stefan?" School was over already? That didn't seem possible.

"Extra broody. Hold on."

I flipped back to Alaric's call, not sure how I was going to get away from Elena without telling her where I was going just yet, but not caring. "You drive, pick me up in an hour."

"Done." Alaric ended the call and I switched back to Elena.

"He won't eat anything." I sighed, settling into the big leather armchair I'd watched her sleep from almost every night this week.

"He has to eat." She said, sounding almost like a concerned mother rather than a worried girlfriend. "What's his favorite kind of, um…"

She let the sentence hang and I couldn't resist. "His favorite kind of what?"

I could practically see the uncomfortable grimace on her face. "Type of animal blood he prefers?"

"Ew, gross." I teased with a smirk, at least earning a laugh from her.

"Your joking doesn't help."

"Helps me. Now, hurry up. I can't babysit all night, I have things to do."

"I would say drop dead, but…"

"Ha, ha, ha." I laughed out driely, wondering if it was possible she was calling me while she was changing out of the clothes she'd worn to school. Wishful thinking and sinful daydreams would only get me into trouble so I forced myself to snap out of the images racing through my mind. "Stefan likes…puppy blood. Little golden retriever puppies, cute floppy ears. That's his favorite."

She scoffed, hanging up on me and I wondered if she actually believed me there for a minute.

When she got here a little while later, I went upstairs to shower and change, giving her sometime to visit Stefan. Apparently baby brother was feeling suicidal and freaked her out. She told me everything he said to her and it surprised me to hear words I'd said myself a long, long time ago. "I'm worried about him Damon." She admitted from her place on the couch.

"You know, he's just being dramatic. He's not gonna starve himself."

"Why would he say that?"

I leaned on the desk, careful to keep some distance between us. I was getting much to accustomed to having her around the house and I knew that she would eventually go back to her place one day soon when this was all over. There was no use in getting too attached. "He feels bad about hurting that girl. It's very typical Stefan martyr stuff. It will pass."

I could see it in her eyes that she didn't believe me, but she wanted to. "Will it, because he seemed to be in a lot of pain."

She seemed to forget that I'd seen this before, been through this before with my brother. "That will pass too, once he eats."

"I didn't mean physical pain."

"I know what you meant." She just looked at me, waiting for more answers, for something that would turn everything back to the way it was before Stefan fell off the wagon. "Look, are you gonna be okay if I have to run out? I have to run an errand with the teacher."

Her nose scrunched up in confusion and I tried to ignore how cute it was. "The teacher? Alaric? Are you two friends now?"

I pushed back, walking over to my jacket. "I don't have any friends Elena."

I could feel her eyes following me as I pulled the leather on. "Right." Her tone sounded almost hurt, as if I'd insulted her somehow with my comment. Did she consider us friends? There I go again, sounding like a lovesick idiot. _Lock that down, Damon. _"You should, you should stay up here. Shouldn't go down there by yourself."

"I'll be fine." She sounded like she wanted to roll her eyes and for a moment I saw the actual teenage girl she was. It was hard for me sometimes to remember just how young and innocent she was when she looked like Katherine, when she acted so strong.

"You know, you're very trusting of him. Given the circumstances." I didn't try to hide my displeasure at her choices, and she didn't try to hide her dislike at my going.

"So are you, otherwise you wouldn't be leaving."

I looked at her for a minute, wondering if I could stay. Should stay. God knew I wanted to stay, but we were getting to comfortable with each other, and I knew that Stefan could hear every word we'd said. Was that why he was keeping himself locked down there? Because he was to pissed off that we were bonding? I needed a break from her and the few hours this morning hadn't been good enough. Already her presence was starting to get to me. "I won't be long." I promised, leaving her alone.

Elena's POV- Boarding House

The things Stefan had told me, haunted me even as I sat upstairs writing it all out. My journal was still missing so I'd taken to writing any thoughts down in one of my notebooks from school. So, Stefan had died with Katherine's blood in his system and then fed on his father after beating him to death to complete the transition. He hadn't exactly asked to be a vampire but he hadn't done anything to stop it either. From the first moment he'd been faced with the blood lust he'd given into it, tying himself to madness from the first drop. I heard the front door shut and knew that Damon was finally home. Good, he had some explaining to do himself. "Ugh, God. You're still here."

_And hello to you too. _I thought as he came over, sitting next to me on the couch and letting my legs drop in his lap. "Were you expecting anything else?"

"Nope." He sighed, leaning back a little.

We were much to comfortable with each other, suddenly it felt wrong. The last few days we'd barely touched, hardly spoken but there had been a definite sense of trust building in the air. Each day it got thicker and thicker, and now we were getting closer. I could feel the warmth of his hand through my jeans, wondering just why my skin tingled where he touched. "So, how was the errand?"

"Futile. Although I think I witnessed the teacher having an existential crisis." I pulled back from him, sliding my knees up so I wasn't touching him. I couldn't be touching him right now. "Has Stefan eaten yet?"

"I thought you didn't care?" I asked smugly, earning a sharp shrug from him. One day all his fake disconnection would catch up with him. Deep down, he cared more than anyone I knew. He just didn't realize it yet.

"Chalk it up to morbid curiosity." I smiled at him, watching the flames dance in his eyes for a moment. He was so clueless about himself it was almost cute.

"I think he's getting there, but he's got a lot of guilt that he has to deal with. And it doesn't help that you've spent the last 145 years punishing him for Katherine getting caught."

"So this is my fault my now?" he exclaimed.

"No, it's no one's fault Damon. I'm just saying, you're not exactly innocent." He stared at me as if I'd just grown another head. "You've made it your life's mission to make him miserable.

He looked deeply offended and I wondered just what it was I said wrong. He pushed up from the couch, turning to me. "Let me ask you a question. In all this important soul-searching and cleansing of the demons of Stefan's past, did you ever manage to get the rest of the story?"

I put my notebook down, sitting up. "He said there was more."

"Yeah, that's an understatement." He practically snarled, turning away.

"Damon." I stood up, chasing after him. "Damon." I grabbed his arm, but he shook me off, glaring at me as if I'd been the one that had locked Katherine up and lit the match, or was it something else entirely that he was mad about. Something else that he had been punishing Stefan for this entire time? "Tell me."

"You're not going to like it." he glowered, pushing past me and walking straight to the bar. I watched as he poured himself a glass of bourbon, sipping as he spoke. "It was the night after they burned the church down. I was dying, I wasn't going to complete the transition. I didn't want to be a vampire, not anymore. That had been something I only would have been to stay with Katherine forever, but she was gone and without her I was alone. So I sat there, waiting for death, waiting for the sun…whichever came first. It turned out, Stefan came first with something he called a gift."

"A gift?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest, feeling suddenly cold in the warm living room.

"A young girl from town. I didn't know her name but she was a friend of the families. Stefan begged me to drink, said that we would be together forever as brothers, that we would survive together. He didn't want to be alone, and I couldn't very well leave him to fend for himself. He bit her, tempted me with the bloodlust that he'd given into himself. I'm not proud of it, but I was dying and it was in my nature, it was a new survival instinct. I drank from her, fed from her and in the end we drained her together. I was ready to die Elena. I didn't want to be this monster, but Stefan…he made me this. Then he went off on his own and tore cities apart."

I wasn't sure how to react, or what to say. "Damon." All I could manage was to whisper his name.

He drained the glass, not sure if he could even look at me. "The moment Stefan had his first taste of human blood, he was a different person. I suppose I should thank him. It's been a hell of a ride." He gave a lousy excuse for a laugh, trying to leighten the mood, but it was much to heavy now.

Realization settled over me as I put the new pieces of the Salvatore puzzle together. It all made so much more sense. All of it. "Oh my God, he said he wanted to die. That's why I won't feed. Now I understand why, but-"

"His choice," Damon said, pretending not to care again as he filled the glass once more. "if he's stupid enough to make it, so be it."

"Don't do that." I glared, my patience finally snapping with both of them. "Okay? Don't pretend like you don't care." I turned away, marching downstairs.

"Where are you going?" Damon called after me weakly, but I didn't respond. I knew he would follow. It was time we got to the bottom of all this, once and for all.

When I reached the cell however, the door was wide open and Stefan's daylight ring was sitting on the bench. He was gone, and the sun was going to rise soon. I turned and ran back upstairs, running right into Damon. "He's gone."

His hands were on my shoulders, stilling me against him. "I know where he went."

Damon's POV- Boarding House

So, Little Boy Lost was home, and so was Elena. I could see in his eyes that he wasn't hungry anymore which meant he'd finally fed. Elena excused herself to go upstairs and I pushed back the jealous wave that threatened to anger me further. So, Saint Stefan once again…and Big Bad Damon Salvatore. Elena thought she knew the whole story, and for the most part she did. But what neither of them knew, not even Stefan until now was that the real reason I'd hated Stefan for the last 145 years was because Katherine had fed him her blood, had wanted him to turn right along with me. She'd intended for the three of us to just keep going around and around in this sick little threesome we'd had going. I could mad at her for that, but there was no way to show her how much she hurt me, so instead I hated Stefan. And I told him so.

Elena's POV- Gilbert House

"I'm supposed to help build the Miss Mystic float for the Founder's Day Parade. If I don't, I get the wrath of Caroline. But I wanted to check in first." I cradled my cell on my shoulder.

Damon was on the other line, and even though I'd called Stefan I was almost relieved to hear his voice. We hadn't really talked since the night I pulled Stefan back from the brink which was odd since we'd gotten so close. "Well, I'm doing great. Thanks for asking."

I sighed, unable to help smiling. He was such a cocky ass. "Check in on Stefan."

"Oh him?" Damon went from flirty teasing to sarcastic boredom. "He's terrible."

"What's the matter?"

"He's just back to boring, strait-laced off the junk." I rolled my eyes, not believe that I'd fallen for that ploy. "You've successfully cured him of anything that was interesting about his personality."

"Don't forget who helped me." I sing-songed into the phone, just to torture him right back.

"I hate myself." I could hear his smile in his words and ignored the twist in my stomach. It wasn't like I missed him or anything. It was only Damon after all. "Hey, did Uncle John mention anything to you about my field trip with the history teacher?"

"No I've still been avoiding him. Why, what's he up to?"

"I don't know but I'd love it if you could find out for me."

I wondered, for a split second only just what else Damon Salvatore would love for me to do. Probably something demeaning and perverted. "I gotta go, I'm late."

"Have fun with the Mystic Queen. I know I did."

I scoffed, ending the call. He was such a cocky ass.

Damon's POV- Mystic Falls High

The corridor of the school was fairly dark which didn't exactly surprise me but I did find it curious. The whole damn town was abuzz getting ready for the Founders Day celebration, and apparently celebrating the town's history was more important than actually learning about it. I pulled open the classroom door, seeing Ric leaning against his desk. "Damon, thank you for coming."

"Sorry I'm late." I smirked, stepping inside. "Dog ate my…uh…never mind." Elena stared blankly, not really moving and barely breathing. Her heart was beating slowly, almost as if she was asleep but there was no sign that she was hurt. Just extremely upset. Stefan was brooding, as was the teacher to my right. "What's with all the furrowed brows?"

"I saw Isobel last night."

I looked straight back at him, taking a moment to process what the hell he just said. "Isobel's here?" Ric nodded, not exactly looking pleased. Damn, the woman had perfect timing, just when he was about to let her go too. "In town?"

I glanced over at Elena and she finally met my eyes. We'd spent enough time together for me to be able to read her face. She wasn't sad. She was pissed.

I took a minute to process everything, then moved over to the window. "Did you ask her about Uncle John? Are they working together?"

"No." Alaric shook his head.

"No they're not?" I realized I sounded like a demanding ass, but I really didn't care.

"No I didn't ask."

"What about the invention?" I stepped forward, quickly losing patience with the teacher.

"I didn't ask."

"Does she know about the tomb vampires?"

"I don't know."

I was now right in front of Ric, right in his face. "Did words completely escape you?"

Apparently he was just as impressed with my attitude as I was with his. "I was a little to distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions."

"What's she want?"

Elena gave a little sigh. "She wants to see me, Damon."

I looked at her, wondering just how she felt about that. From the looks of her, she was just as confused as the rest of us. Its one thing to find out you're adopted, that your whole life has been a lie. It's a completely other thing to think that your birth mother is dead, and then discover she's been turned into a vampire and has only now just come back to town for some unknown reason. "Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting." Stefan interjected. "We don't know why or what she wants."

I kept my eyes on Elena. "You don't have to see her if you don't want to."

"I don't really have a choice." She shrugged, still looking up at me as if I had all the answers. What did she want me to do? Kidnap her again? Drive us away from this town? It hardly worked all that well last time.

"She's threatening to go on a killing spree." Ric said, his voice low.

"Oh." I stared at the ceiling, cursing every bad word I could think of in my head. "I take it that's not okay with you guys."

Stefan shot me a look, but I ignored it. "I wanna do it." Elena said finally. "I wanna meet her. If I don't, I know I'll regret it."

I wanted to ask her if she was sure, but I knew better than that by now. Once she'd made up her mind it was almost impossible to change.

Stefan's POV- Boarding House

You had to be blind not to see what was going on between them. The second Damon and Elena were in the same room together, the air hummed. Whatever it was, the thing between them was intense. I could feel it, and I knew they felt it too. If I wasn't hoping that it would work for our advantage, I would be beyond pissed at the moment. But we had to convince Damon, and we had to do it quickly. So far, we were not off to a very good start. "Absolutely not!" he denied loudly as we stood in the living room.

"Hear me out." Elena tried to reason with him, but he was hearing none of it.

"I'm not going to give the device to Isobel, who's gonna give it John who's gonna turn around and kill me. I like being a living…dead person."

Elena sighed next to me, glaring at Damon. "But it'll be useless. Bonnie can takes it power away."

Damon shook his head, throwing fire at the witch with his eyes. Their dislike for each other was about as clear as the attraction between my brother and my girlfriend. "I don't trust her."

"I can remove the original spell." Bonnie said matter of factly, as if she was describing baking a cake.

Elena opened her arms wide as if that explained everything, "John and Isobel will never know." But I knew my brother better than that. He needed reassurance, he needed to know that his ass wasn't going to get burned in the end.

"No, no." Damon shook his head. "I'll get Jeremy my own way."

"Really?" I asked, curious as to his latest master plan. "How you gonna do that? Hmm? Because Isobel is a vampire and Jeremy could be dead the second you walk in the door."

Damon ignored me, his eyes focused on Bonnie. Even I had to admit, she did look pretty judgy. "Are you even up for this?" he asked, smirking at her. "I mean, no offence. You're no Emily Bennett. Emily knew what she was doing."

"I've been practicing."

"It's not piano lessons honey." Damon's eyes grew wide and annoyed and I stood ready to break up a fight between them, not that I was any match for Bonnie's witchy magic. I could still remember the searing pain she could create.

"What's your favorite book?" Bonnie asked, a seemingly random question for the moment.

"What?" Damon quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Name a book. Any book."

"Name a book." He repeated, apparently caught off guard. "How about…Call of the Wild, Jack London?"

Bonnie took a deep breath and turned to the bookshelf. I heard the creak and then suddenly a book was flying through the air. Damon's hand reached out and snatched it. He glanced at the binding, impressed. "Jack London. Great parlor trick."

"We're doing this Damon." Elena ordered, their eyes locking together. "and we're gonna do it my way. Now give me the device." There it was again, the low hum in the air as they stared at each other. Could Bonnie sense the connection between them, or was it just me. "We're wasting time."

"I don't trust you. I tried to kill you." Damon glanced back at Bonnie, breaking the connection with Elena. Apparently her effect was working on him.

"Mm." Bonnie smiled. "You're right. You can't trust me."

"But you can trust me." Elena grabbed his attention back, her hold on him no stronger than if she'd actually forced him to look at her with her hands. I watched closely as they shut the world out around them, the only focus each other. Damon rolled his eyes, reaching into his pocket and handing her the device. Their fingers lingered on each other longer than was necessary, Damon practically holding her hand tight. Their bond had definitely strengthened in the time they'd been working so hard to try and save me. "Thank you." Elena said quietly, but Damon only turned away when he felt my eyes on him.

Bonnie set out her spell book and lit a few candles, Damon's presence ever the most annoying. Bonnie said no words as she performed the spell, levitating the device and making the lights glow and dim with her power. After a few moments, she looked up; the device steady and still in her hand once more. "Done." She said simply, looking over at Elena.

"Great." Damon drawled. "Now what?"

"Now we give it to Isobel." Elena didn't sound very sure, and Damon didn't look very impressed.

Elena's POV- Town Square

The night air was fairly warm, surprising for this time of night. Thankfully, the streets were mostly empty as well. The entire town was preparing for the Founder's Day, so they'd all gone home to rest and prepare for all the work that still had to be done tomorrow. I walked carefully along the path, searching for Isobel with my eyes. I knew the brothers were watching me from a distance. It had been impossible to convince them to stay at the house, which was fine in the end because I really hadn't wanted to go alone. Meeting my birth mother had been…less than satisfying. In fact it had been damn near depressing.

All of a sudden I found myself looking at her, all black hair and clothing with white marble skin. She looked like perfect porcelain; cold and dead but not fragile. No, this woman was hard without humanity. "Where's the device?"

Her tone was cool, but calm. There was nothing soothing about it, nothing I recognized about it. Was it possible that I'd actually come from this woman? That she'd made me…

"Where's my brother?" I demanded, and she smiled evilly.

"This isn't a negotiation. Where's the invention?"

"Where is my brother?" I repeated, really not in the mood for any more vampires that thought they ruled the world.

"Do you really think that I came alone?" she said as her little minions Damon had described to me appeared out of the trees.

I turned back to her, making sure there was a bored look on my face. "Do you really think that I came alone?"

Stefan and Damon stepped out of the shadows, all black leather and bad ass. They did look quite intimidating if I did say so myself. Isobel rolled her eyes. "For God's sakes, call home."

"What?" I asked, confused.

Not it was Isobel that looked bored. "Call home, ask to speak to your brother Jeremy."

I quickly reached into my pocket and hit the speed dial for the house. After one ring, the other line picked up. "Hello?" I nearly sighed in relief at his voice.

"Jeremy, are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Uncle John hit his head; it was an accident."

"And we're all laughing." I could hear Aunt Jenna in the background.

"Yeah, but I'm okay." Jeremy chuckled slightly, either compelled by Isobel to forget whatever it was he'd seen while he was with her, or lying for Jenna's sake.

"I'll be home soon, alright?"

"Yeah." Jeremy sighed and ended the call.

I looked back at Isobel, wondering just what we were to do now. My whole plan had been messed up, but I'd take that knowing my brother was safe at home. "You were never gonna hurt him."

"No," Isobel shook her head. "I was gonna kill him. Don't look for any redeeming qualities in me." She spoke bluntly, almost as if she barely realized who I was. Could she even remember giving birth to me? Carrying me inside her? Or had flipping the switch made her forget all that, had the guilt and pain of giving me up been too much to handle and she'd forced herself to forget? "I don't have any."

"But you took a risk with Damon How did you know he was gonna give it to me?"

Isobel smiled. "Because he's in love with you." I glanced quickly at Stefan, seeing the pained expression on his face, then Damon who looking a little uncomfortable. He didn't deny it, but he wasn't exactly jumping up and down to agree with it either. Isobel held out her hand, apparently not caring about the damage she'd just done to my relationship with the brothers.

I sighed, shaking my head and slapped the device into her palm. "Thank you."

"For what?" she asked, almost smugly.

"For being such a monumental disappointment. It keeps the memory of my real mother perfectly intact."

"Goodbye Elena." She smiled, and then she gave me perhaps the only piece of advice I would ever need from her. "As long as you have a Salvatore on each arm, you're doomed. Katherine was smart, she got out. But we all know that you're not Katherine."

The only question was, would I be able to take it.

Stefan came forward, holding me tight in his arms. I wrapped around him, looking over his shoulder at Damon. His expression was almost completely unreadable and I could tell that he was trying to read mine. To see what I thought about what Isobel said. I couldn't give him any answers so I closed my eyes and held Stefan tighter. Tonight was not the night to deal with that. I didn't know when I would deal with it, but right now I had to get home to Jeremy.

_a/n: only one more episode until season one is over. I'm going to stop here and hope that everyone enjoyed this. If you want me to do season two, you gotta review and ask for it. although knowing me, I'll write it anyway haha_


	8. Chapter 8

_a/n: I was so excited about this episode when it was happening. Every minute of it was amazing! I know the porch kiss scene didn't turn out to be Elena, but it was still an important moment for them in the long run. I hope I give this episode proper justice. Sorry it took me so long to post this._

Damon's POV- Town Square

I could spot Stefan from a mile away. Even in the midst of the busy town square, he stuck out like a sore thumb in his old, familiar suit. "Don't you look retro?"

"What are you doing here?" He didn't sound exactly pleased, but I didn't see a stake anywhere insight that he was planning to drive through my undead heart.

"Why wouldn't I be here? Bonnie deactivated the Gilbert invention, Isobel's gone…and its Founders Day." I gave him one of my winning smirks. "I'm here to eat cotton candy and steal your girl."

He grimaced in return. "Don't start with me."

"Oh…you started it Stefan with the whole 'I'm insecure, leave Elena alone' speech. I'm still enjoying that."

He nodded slightly, thinking-at least for the moment- that he had the upperhand in all of this. "As long as you heard it."

"Wait-huh? What?" I played being deaf, unable to resist the quip. He hadn't gotten me, he would never get me. "You have no sense of humor."

"Actually I have no sense of Damon humor." He turned to walk away, but I wasn't about to let him go that easily.

"Damon humor? Hey, look I get it. I get it. I'm the better, hotter, superior choice, and you're scared that now that Katherine's out of the picture that I'm gonna turn all my attention to Elena. But don't worry, Elena is _not _Katherine."

He had that holier than thou look on his face again; the one that made me want to punch him, snap his neck, just because I could. "You're right. She's not."

Out of the corner of my eye, almost like a ghost of a memory I saw Katherine…only it wasn't a memory…and it wasn't Katherine. It was the curls, the gold and green silk of the century I was born into, but it was Elena. She looked around the grounds, searching for something, someone- probably Stefan. Her eyes settled on me first, a small smile coming over her lips. It grew as she looked to Stefan, but as she bent down, her skirts brushing the ground as she moved; her eyes were back on mine. She didn't even glance at Stefan again. I stepped forward, almost in a trance and held out my hand to her. Her eyes widened a little and she came closer. Stefan brushed past me, breaking the spell of the moment between us and drawing her attention back to him.

He took her hand in his, brushed his lips against her fingers and smiled at her, bowing at the waist. She looked charmed, she looked beautiful but as he stood to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her against his chest, her eyes were still focused on mine. The slightest smile still tugged at her lips and there was a spark in her eyes I couldn't quite name. Did she enjoy playing these little mind games with me? Or did she even recognize that she was doing it?

Elena's POV- Miss Mystic Fall's Float

I could hear Carol Lockwood's voice ringing through the town as she announced each float for everyone on Main Street to hear. The fake gun shots from Tyler and Jeremy's Battle of Willow Creek flat sounded so real I jumped. Stefan's hand on my waist was soothing and I leaned back against his chest. He smiled down at me and I took a second to press up on my toes and kiss him. There was something in his touch, in his demeanor that had a cold shiver moving through me. He was angry…he was upset. At me? At Damon? At both of us? I tried to focus, to look out into the smiling faces of the crowd. As Carol announced Caroline as Miss Mystic Falls the crowd got a little louder. We waved, grinning as the children in the crowd jumped up and down to catch a glimpse of the Miss Mystic Falls Court. We were basically royalty for our town, at least for this year.

I found Bonnie in the crowd, her face practically glowing as she smiled up at us. She waved at us, and I waved back, grinning. It was nice, it was calm and for once everything was normal. We were just teenagers playing dress-up for our silly town parade. I could almost forget that my boyfriend was a blood drinking monster, one of my best friends was a witch and the man I'd hated for my entire life was my father. Then Damon slid gracefully into my line of sight. He smirked, looking helplessly sexy and dangerous with his long fingers wiggling in the air as he stole my wave. His eyes glinted shiny blue in the sun as he focused his gaze right on me. I looked away, rolling my eyes to disguise the instant attraction I was feeling. I glanced up to see Stefan glaring at his brother, and looked away from both of them. I couldn't resist the small smile that came on my lips, but I managed to turn the smile on someone else and pick up the perfect wave Caroline had been forcing me to practice for weeks.

Damon's POV- Mystic Falls Grill

The parade had ended a few hours ago, but I hadn't gotten to see Elena or Stefan since the moment on the float. The Grill was full of celebrating teenagers and relieved half-drunk Council Members. I looked around, for any sign of someone I knew, but heard her heartbeat before she was fully through the door. She'd changed back into her normal clothes, but her hair still held the familiar Katherine-esque curls from this morning. It was like a brilliant combination of both women and I felt myself drawn to it. What was it about her that made it impossible for me to resist being near her? Was it her looks, the fact she shared the same face as Katherine, or was it something deeper, something real that pulled us together. She must have felt it too because her feet were directing her toward me, even if her eyes were wandering the room.

"I like you better than this." I said, stepping in front of her and bringing her to a halt. "The period look, it didn't suit you."

She looked a bit confused, more annoyed and just the tiniest hint of pissed off. "Is that an insult?"

"Actually Elena, it is a compliment of the highest order."

She let a short exasperated breath. I annoyed her, but she couldn't help being amused by me. The undeniable connection was just as plain on her face as when it had flashed in her eyes as she stood on the float. She just didn't seem to be that interested in hiding this time. "Look, I know Stefan is worried about our friendship."

So baby brother had been making the rounds, planting seeds of doubt in Elena's innocent mind. "Did he mention something to you to?"

She looked almost shocked, and I took the assumption back. "No, did he mention something to you?"

"No. Nothing worth repeating." At least, that wasn't entirely a lie. His ramble had been greatly unneeded, unheeded and ultimately unheard. _If _ I chose to go after Elena, it would be because I wanted to, not because he told me not to.

She gave her head a slight shake, doing her best to glare at me. "So I think you should stop with the flirty little comments, and that eye thing that you do."

"What eye thing?" My tone sounded confused, but I knew exactly what she was talking about. From the way her heart beat spiked in her chest I could tell she saw and felt exactly what I did at that moment. The eye thing was definitely a seduction tactic, but it was probably one of the most honest ones I had. It was a window into my deepest darkest thoughts, and when I shared it with her I allowed her a glimpse into what it could be like to be loved by Damon Salvatore.

The heat practically radiated off her skin as she felt a flush of attraction and arousal light within her. Just as quickly as I'd given her the jolt, I took it away; my attention distracted by her judgmental little finger poking at my chest. "Don't make me regret being your friend…okay?"

The playful hum around us had died away and was replaced with the suddenly serious silence of realization. She'd given me her friendship and a bit of her trust as a gift. As easily as it had been given, she could take it away. I nodded, seeing her spot Jeremy at a nearby table. She went to him, basically pleading for his forgiveness. He told her off, brushing past her. The hurt and disappointment was clear on her face and she looked after her brother. There were no tears in her eyes; she was stronger than that but the pain etched on her face was enough to set my blood on fire. She glanced at me, a little of her control on her emotions slipping. Just as I relaxed around her and let my guard down, she did the same with me. Being around me made her open up, and she couldn't have that right now. She turned away, heading toward the back of the Grill.

I could follow her, comfort her and possibly make things better- or go after Jeremy and smack some sense into that snot nosed little brat, and possibly make things worse. I watched her disappear into the girls bathroom, glancing back at me one more time before she disappeared behind the door. I took a step toward her, but the front door slamming behind Jeremy grabbed my attention. Worse it was.

Elena's POV- Town Square

The sun had fallen and night covered Mystic Falls. I walked hand in hand with Stefan through the square. It was a beautiful mess after the parade, and one that we would have to get up early for tomorrow morning and help clean up. I was giggling at some particularly funny joke Stefan had told me in an attempt to get me to smile, but as soon as Damon's cologne entered the atmosphere my attention was distracted. He came up beside me, taking my hand in his and holding his palm possessively over it so I couldn't pull away. "What are you doing?" I demanded, trying to keep my voice down.

No doubt we already looked like a scene, a girl trapped between two brothers standing in the middle of the road. "Saving your life." He ignored me, focusing on his brother. "Fifteen words or less; tomb vampires are here. Founding families are the target. Get her out of here. Now."

"Wait, wait. Where are you going?" Stefan asked, but Damon had already released my hand and was moving away from us. I ignored the tingles on my skin where he'd touched me.

"That's more than fifteen words Stefan." He glanced back, and then he was gone. Stefan stepped forward to grab him, but I held tight to his arm.

"Wait, Jeremy is out here somewhere."

Stefan nodded, his eyes already searching. "Then let's go find him, come on."

We pushed ourselves through the crowd, both of us searching for either of our brothers. Jeremy was nowhere in sight and I texted Matt to ask if he'd seen him. He'd responded he was in the Grill, so I relaxed a little. The first set of fireworks exploded overhead as I caught a glimpse of Damon disappearing through the door of my father's old office. There was just a glimpse of leather, and then the door was closed. "Over there Stefan!" I pointed and we took off. Another set of white let out in the sky and then suddenly Stefan had collapsed to his knees, cradling his head as he bowed low to the ground. "Stefan? What's going on? What's happening?"

"My head."

"What?"

"My head." He sat up a little and I could see the pain all over his face. It seemed to stop for a moment and then he was screaming again.

I looked up to see Ric running towards us. "I don't know what happened, he just dropped."

"Yeah, he's not the only one." Ric helped me pull him up and out of the line of sight. "Cops are grabbing everyone who's down and injecting them with vervain."

"What?"

"Yeah."

"They're rounding up the vampires." I looked back up the stairs we'd brought him down. The shadow's would hide us for a while, but for how long? And would it be long enough?

Damon's POV- Gilbert Office Basement

The air was thick with smoke. Even my lungs were stinging from the effects of the fire. I pressed up to my knees, looking around at the bodies, or rather what was left of them. So many vampires, so many people that had died already. If I ever got my hands on that little witches throat…

There was still yelling, even screaming from some of the burning bodies but it was getting quieter. For a moment it looked like the flames were dying down and I was sure this was it. I was going to die…all of this for nothing. Then I looked up through the smoke and saw Stefan. He grabbed me and we were up the stairs in a instant; the flames licking at our heels as it traced back up the stairs after us. We came out of the door, greedily sucking in fresh night air. I let my baby brother support my weight as the effects of the fire wore even my undead body out. We half collapsed on the pavement, Elena rushing to us. "Oh my god." She gasped, one hand on his shoulder, one on my chest.

I couldn't say anything yet, I couldn't speak. I could barely breath if I wanted to, but I wanted to thank her and as I drunk more of the cool night I swore I would tell her how I felt before the night was over.

Katherine's POV- Gilbert House

Even as I walked up the sidewalk to Elena's house I couldn't help wondering how I was going to get inside. I'd already planned on banging on the door and calling for her aunt, pretending I'd lost my keys. It was a lame ploy, but no doubt one that would at least get the door open. Of course I would never get inside without the magic words, but one issue at a time. The dress she had wore on the float was fairly heavy in my arms, but nowhere near as heavy as a real, authentic period dress would have been. The girl had gotten off easy. I stepped up onto the first step as the front door opened. It took all of my strength to keep my face even and calm, to keep my eyes from widening, Damon Salvatore was right in front of me. I know he'd been searching for me, that he'd killed for me, and yet I'd never come more than a few feet from him. Even today in the town square I'd stayed back, hidden.

When the device had gone off I'd been upstairs in my hotel room, the perfect view of the street below me. I'd watched Elena and Stefan race around looking for someone, probably that emotional little brother of hers, and then the device had gone off and even I had crumpled to the ground screaming. When it ended and my mind was my own again, Stefan was out of my sight and so was Elena. Not that I was really here for her after all. No, whether I killed her now or later, or someone got to her first didn't much matter to me. Isobel had asked me to protect her, try and get her out of this mess before the curse of being a Petrova doppelganger really ruined her life. So far, without my help she seemed to be doing a pretty damn good job of that. Step one; fall in love with two vampire brothers. Step two; die for them, for yourself or any combination of the two. It didn't really matter as long as you ended up dead, or became a vampire. Those two options were the only escapes.

A hundred and so years had passed since I'd talked to Damon, yet here I was; obviously in a position where I was unable to ignore him. He looked hurt, sad. Hell, he even looked human again. Poor sweet Damon, had he gotten his heart broken yet again? "What are you doing here?" I asked, wondering if Elena would be quizzical of his appearance, or glad to see him.

Just how far did the apple fall from the tree? And just how far had she gone down the path of the Petrova women? He looked up at me, at her. Yes, he was definitely looking at her. There was an apology in his eyes, sorrow. Regret. "A failed and feeble attempt at doing the right thing."

Quizzical, I decided to stay with that. "Which was..?"

He shook his head, coming toward me. He was dismissing whatever he'd done, so obviously it must have been important. So important that he couldn't bring himself to tell me, to tell her. "It's not important." His voice softened as his hands slipped beneath mine and the dress in my arms. "Let me take this for you."

I watched as he laid it on the swing. There was something different about this Damon. He was still gentle, but there was no innocence to him. He'd done it all, seen it all. He was my Damon..and yet he wasn't. How did that make me feel? "Thank you."

He still had the gentlemanly manners he'd been born with, that at least was refreshing. I watched him set her bag next to her dress. He didn't turn fully to me, almost as if he was guarding himself. "You know, I came to this town wanting to destroy it. Tonight…I found myself wanting to protect it…how does that happen?" These words coming out of his mouth…they weren't for my ears. They were for hers. Would she have listened to him, would she have given him the chance to speak his mind? I wasn't sure, but I did know that I wanted to hear the rest of what he wanted to get off his chest. "I'm not a hero Elena. I don't do good; it's not in me."

I remembered the man I'd met. The soldier. The lover. He was good, right down to the last bone in his body. "Maybe it is." He'd fought for his country to please his father, honor his town, protect his brother. He'd killed until he couldn't take the blood and the death anymore, then he'd come home. At the time he'd been a deserter, and if he hadn't been so wealthy and the oldest son of a Founding family, he would have been hung for treason…but to us he hadn't run away. He just couldn't take the war anymore. Instincts like that, a heart like that never went away. No matter how long you lived. No matter how many times you allowed the blood lust to take over you. The same man that had loved me, touched me, held me and promised me an endless future…that man was still in there. Deep down, his humanity still drove him as mine drove me.

None of us could ever fully escape who we were.

"No, no." he shook his head. "That's reserved for my brother…and you, and Bonnie. Even though she has every reason to hate me, she still helped Stefan save me."

I moved toward him, just slightly. The movement was smooth, almost undetectable; but he caught it. Really I shouldn't have done it…but I just couldn't help it. He was so damn hypnotizing and his honesty was clear on his face. This was him, the real Damon finally coming out after hundred and fifty years, to a girl that wasn't even there. "Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Because she did it for you." His words were pointedly obvious, as if he was surprised I hadn't figured that out yet. That she hadn't figure it out yet. This time it was him that took the step toward me. Partly it was like time had never passed, we were still drawn to each other. The invisible line of attraction tugging us closer. Only this time he was feeling it for her. It didn't matter, not to me. Not right now. "Which means that somewhere along the way…you decided that I was worth saving. And I wanted to thank you, for that."

I had to force my eyes away from his lips. I could remember what a kiss from Damon was like, almost as if I'd had one yesterday…but dammit all to hell if I didn't want another one. Still, I had to be Elena. I had to be cute, and innocent. Good. "Thank you." My smile was sweet, the one I used to charm and compel others without the use of vampire tricks.

His eyes burned into me, and I could feel the familiar heat begin to boil inside of me. The air between us thickened as he leaned forward. The Damon I knew would have kissed me, grabbed me and pressed me up against the pillar of the porch and dazzled me into bed with his kisses. Instead, he surprised me by simply pressing his lips to my cheek. It was a move for Elena, a show of just how much he adored her, a way to prove to both of them that she could trust him. It amazed me, and I felt myself almost smiling at him when he pulled back a bit. The desperate confusion for more was clear in my eyes and he read it, slowly, painfully, hesitantly leaning back in.

Gently, he let his lips brush against mine. He was giving her the chance to stop it, to back away. I wanted nothing more than to grab onto him and pull him closer, but that would not be something Elena would do. She would stand there, she would wait for him to be the better man and stop. He stayed right there, waiting for me, for her to make the next move. I could shove him away or I could kiss back; those were my two choices and I didn't care which one Elena would have chosen. He smelled so good, felt so familiar and comfortable that I simply didn't want to help myself. I deepened the kiss, letting my mouth open. He took the opportunity, reminding me, showing her just what we'd been missing. Only she wasn't me and I wasn't her.

I didn't pretend to be her as I kissed back. I let my tongue tangle with his, swept up in the moment as his hand came up to cradle my face, to hold me in place. It was both a protective and possessive move all at once and I melted into. This was what I remembered, this was why I had such a problem chosing between the brothers. My love for Stefan was real, it was true…but dammit if Damon didn't know how to make a girl feel like a woman. I was just getting all the way into it, letting myself fully relax into the familiar warmth of his arms when the front door opened. Damon turned away from the light, not daring to look at who had found us, but I wasn't shy.

I glared right at Elena's darling Aunt Jenna. Had she been watching through the peep hole, waiting to interrupt at the right time? Unbelievable. Talk about a killjoy. "Hi." I quickly put my Elena face back on, realizing that she would react differently than I would in this situation.

"It's late, you should probably come inside."

The magic words I'd been worrying about getting were basically handed to me on a silver platter and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity. I moved to grab my stuff, not looking back at Damon even though I could feel his confused eyes boring into my back. I could still feel it even after the door had closed.

Damon's POV

The door shut tight, closing me off from Elena. My lips still tingled from the kiss. It had been mindblowing, but there was something about it. Something familiar that had my stomach lurching. Tentatively I reached my finger up, touching my lips.

Elena may not be Katherine, but she sure as hell kissed like her.

_a/n: I debated long and hard over whether to do the kiss from Damon's POV, or even perhaps Stefan watching through the trees. Katherine just demanded to be heard from though, and since she knows Damon best, I figured it would be a nice twist since that final scene was pretty damn twisty the first time I watched it. Hope you enjoyed that!_

_It certainly was a challenge to write, but I loved it._

_Here I come Season Two!_


	9. Chapter 9

_a/n: Hello again! Are we excited for Season Two Recap? I hope so! So, just to catch us all up- incase you've been living under a rock or you would simply like a refresher: _

'_Previously on the Vampire Diaires' (hehe- I've always wanted to say that for a logical reason). The tomb vampires are out. Damon shared a kiss with Katherine on the porch, thinking it was Elena, except that it wasn't. Caroline is in the hospital dying, Tyler was affected by the device and his father is dead. John is also in the hospital dying from Katherine; the only one that as of this moment knows she is in town. And so…here we go._

Damon's POV- Mystic Falls Hospital

I gave Liz a quick hug, promising her that I would go and look in on Caroline if she would promise to get some sleep on the less than attractive looking waiting room couch. She agreed begrudgingly and I waited until her eyes were closed to go in search of Caroline's room. A few flirty smiles from a cute nurse had me pointed in the right direction, but Elena and Bonnie's voice from around the corner had me holding back. I often learned more information from eavesdropping then actually asking questions. "Bonnie, how's Caroline?" Elena sounded anxious, worried. Not at all like she had been on the porch. Her curls seemed much looser now and she'd changed clothes. Had there really bee time for that in all of this?

"She's weak…they don't know if she's gonna make it."

"What?" Sick realization slid over Elena's face and she did her best to numbly hug Bonnie back. She hadn't really lost anyone since her parents, and she wasn't prepared to lose her best friend. "Is there something you can do? Like a spell, or something?"

I stepped forward, wanting to comfort her but knowing that I wouldn't get within a foot of her if the witch had anything to say about it. "She doesn't know how. Do you?"

Elena looked at me, but there was no flash of recognition on her face. Instead she eyed me almost warily. Had the kiss affected her that badly? Did it make her more afraid of me. "No," Bonnie shook her head. "I don't."

"No, you don't." I knew I sounded smug, but that was alright. I really didn't like these Bennett witches. They were sneaky. Too sneaky for my tastes. "Because it too Emily years to learn a spell like that."

Bonnie seemed just as arrogant as I was. "I can't take down a vampire; that spell was easy to learn."

Two strong ego's butting heads was entertaining, but we hardly had the time for it. I turned to Elena, hoping that she would give me the permission I needed to save her friend, and albeit my ex…and the daughter of one of the only true friends I had in this town. "I can give Caroline some blood."

She'd started shaking her head before I'd even finished my sentence. "No, no way."

"Just enough to heal her. She'll be safe in the hospital. It will be out of her system in a day…she will be better Elena." I tried to plead my case, hoping she would see reason.

"It's too risky," Elena's eyes were desperate but she was stubborn. "I can't agree to that."

Witchy piped up, shocking us both. "Do it." she looked at Elena. "This is Caroline, okay? We can't let her die." Her eyes were hard the moment they were back on me. "Do it."

"If I do this, you and me; we call a truce?" I threw a smile at her but she didn't budge.

"No, but you'll do it anyway. For Elena." The girls shared a smile, and Elena finally nodded in agreement. Bonnie seemed satisfied and walked away.

I considered saying nothing…but I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by. Who knew how often I would get Elena alone over the course of the next few days. "I know this is probably the last thing you wanna do right now…but we should talk about what happened tonight."

She didn't seem nervous around me at all, or even hesitant. "Yeah, one of the tomb vampires got into the house and almost killed John."

Alright…okay…so she was a little shaken up. And something scary had happened after the kiss, but did that give her a reason to blow it off completely. "Wait…what? What? What are you talking about, after I left?"

She genuinely looked confused. Damn, she was a good actress. "You were there?"

"Come on Elena, you know I was." I softened my voice, hoping to let her know that it was okay to admit what had happened. Did she really think I would use it against her?

"When were you at the house?"

"Really?" she was gonna play this game with me after THAT kiss? "Earlier? On the porch; we were talking…all cathartic feelings exposed. Come on, we kissed Elena!"

She rolled her eyes as if I was the one playing the games. "Okay, I don't have time for this Damon." She shook her head, ready to walk past me but I grabbed her elbow. No way was she getting away with ignoring me that easily.

"Hey if you wanna forget it happened fine." I looked deep into her eyes, willing her to admit it. "But I can't."

"Elena." Aunt Jenna; always there to cockblock me when I least needed it. I quickly released Elena, turning to avoid her glare. So, I wasn't crazy. She did see us kissing. Good sign that I hadn't imaged the entire scene in my mind… "I came as soon as I got your message. How's John?"

"Where have you been?" the question was soft but demanding. Quite Elena-like.

"At the fire department…I had to fill out a report. I told you earlier, I-"

"No you didn't." Elena shook her head, sounding slightly exasperated.

"Yes I did."

"No Jenna, you didn't."

I turned around, the wheels in my head spinning out of control. Elena didn't remember the kiss, and she didn't remember Jenna telling her simple things. Either she'd been hit rather hard on the head, compelled to forget earlier events of tonight…or…

"Oh." And just like that, all the nobs clicked into place as my dead heart fell to the bottom of my stomach. "You've gotta be kidding me." _Katherine. _I looked between the two women, saw the confused looks on their faces. I couldn't even begin to understand myself, never mind explain it to them so I turned and left. I had to find Stefan.

"Damon!" Elena was running behind me, doing her best to keep up with my long strides. She didn't catch up until we were outside the hospital and near my car. She grabbed my arm. "What is going on?"

I stopped, looking down at her. I can't believe how much of an idiot I was. To think that she would actually kiss me…and then the fact that I'd poured my heart and soul out to that bitch! Ugh, I could stake myself and be done with it all. "It wasn't a tomb vampire that got into your house."

Her eyes widened and she released her grip on me. "What are you talking about?"

"Get in." I stepped back and opened the door. "Get in the car Elena, I'll take you home. She's probably there anyway."

"She?" Elena sounded even more confused now, but she listened and got in the car.

I drove well over the speed limit but she didn't say anything. A sign that she was just as scared as I was. In record time we were in front of the house, my heightened senses hearing the sound of a struggle. I parked the car and was out, but she was in front of me, up the stairs. She couldn't hear what I could, but she could sense that something was wrong. By the time we were through the door, it was too late. We both quickly took in the sight of Stefan on the floor, my eyes scanning the room quickly for some sign of her even though I knew it was useless. I'd had her, had her right in front of me- in my arms and I hadn't even known! "Stefan?" she asked, confused as he stood.

"Elena." He looked her over quickly, deciding it was her.

"What happened?" she asked, and I noticed that she didn't rush to him to make sure he was alright.

I could have broken something. This close, I'd been _this _close. "Katherine happened."

* * *

><p>After Elena had gone upstairs to check on Jeremy, Stefan and I moved into the kitchen. "Did she say what she wanted?"<p>

"No." Stefan sounded less than impressed.

"Woman certainly knows how to make an entrance." It was hard not to admire her. She had tricked me, but only made me hate her more.

"She said she fooled once of us at least, what does that mean?"

I wanted to sigh, I knew this was coming. "She pretended to be Elena too when I showed up earlier tonight."

Elena came in, perhaps saving me from a near death experience. "I told Jeremy, I can't lie to him anymore." She sounded stressed and I wondered if she'd accept something strong to drink then tea.

Stefan stepped in to comfort her. "You alright?"

"No, I'm not alright. I thought that with all the tomb vampires gone things would get better."

"I know. We all did."

I rolled my eyes. Could they have really been that naive? This is Mystic Falls. Elena glanced at me. "Katherine was in this house. That means that she's been invited in. What are we going to do?"

"Move." I quipped sarcastically. My attitude really wasn't earning my any points, but she didn't seem all that interested in my anyway so why should I care?

"Very helpful. Thank you."

"If Katherine wants you dead, there's zero you can do about it. You will be dead, but you're not. So clearly she has other plans."

"Right, and we need to find out what those other plans are, not provoke her in the process." Stefan said rather pointedly. _Was that supposed to be a hint? _"What happened tonight when you thought she was Elena?"

I glanced over at her, wondering if this was really the best way she should hear it. No doubt the information would send baby brother off his rocker. Screw it. "To risk another frown line encroaching on a very crowded forehead…we…kissed."

Elena's eyes widened. "And you thought it was me?" I tossed her a quick; 'as if you wouldn't look' before Stefan's brooding got in the way.

"What do you mean you kissed?"

"Well you know, when two lips pucker and they go;" I made a kissy noise before Stefan lunged at me with a growl.

I was faster, and in his place on the other side of the kitchen before he could reach me. "Don't be obvious Stefan."

He stepped forward, but Elena was out of her chair, arms out before he could get close. "Wait, Stefan. He kissed Katherine, not me." She looked back at me, her eyes defiant. "I wouldn't do that." Fine, if that's what she chose to believe. She could be in denial all she wanted…for now. "We don't have time for this guys."

"Later." Stefan promised, and I agreed silently. I needed a good throw down.

"John must know something. There has to be a reason why Katherine tried to kill him." Elena said, hoping to distract us from the roaring testorone levels.

"She's Katherine." I moved away from Elena, knowing if she stayed within arms reach I'd want to grab her and either snap her neck or kiss her to prove I was right. "She loves to play games and you're fooling yourself if you think your gonna find out what she's up to before she wants you to know."

Stefan had put on his defiant cap as well. "Actually Elena's right. John could know something through Isobel. You're mother, she was in touch with Katherine so we can go to the hospital, maybe get him to talk."

"I got a better idea." I offered, Elena looking back at me.

"What's that?"

"I'm just gonna ignore the bitch. See ya."

"Is that smart?" she asked, stopping me before I could leave.

"If Katherine thinks she's being ignored it will lure her out. She'll make a move."

"Yeah," Stefan interjected. "then what?"

"Stake her, rip her head off. Something poetic. We'll see." I left them there, standing together in the kitchen. This wasn't even close to over.

Katherine's POV- Lockwood Manor

Was it really this easy to get this town wrapped around my finger? Not that I'm complaining or anything…but Tyler hardly even blinked to invite me into the house. I escaped to the porch when mindless chit-chat threatened to break my polite streak, but it seems like even there I could be found. Well well, little Elena is quite popular isn't she. I wasn't sure what it was that Bonnie had seen when she touched me, but I knew that it wasn't good. By the time she'd found a room to 'hide' in, I'd already found her. Alright, so she was smart to call Elena and verify who I was. Had the Salvatores already warned the latest Bennett witch of my presence? "We haven't officially met, I'm Katherine."

"I know who you are." She didn't seem to impressed, not the matter. I couldn't care less what she thought of me. She was simply going to be a means to end, if she proved useful of course.

"Of course you do. You're the best friend right? I've been putting all the pieces of Elena's life together. Isobel told me it was a bit of a puzzle." I didn't like the way she was looking at me, so I circled her, letting her know she was the prey. "I do know who Jenna and Jeremy are, and I've met that delicious ex-boyfriend Matt; who's sweet on Caroline. And then there's you; the vampire hating Bennett witch." I put on my sweetest smile. "Did I do good?" I could sense she was going to run before she even turned and I was behind in her in a instant. The effects of her spell tingled my senses, but only that. Her powers were no match for me. Still though, I gave her a moments show, hoping it would let her guard down. "I've been around a long time, Bonnie. You're going to have to do better than that." My hand felt good around her throat, even better when I was holding her up against the wall. Did I really need her? Was it worth the stress keeping her alive? I didn't have long to decide before she magicked the doors open, showing my true face to anyone that could have walked past. "Nice."

"Katherine." Stefan slid into the doorway.

"Stefan." I smiled, eyes only for him.

"Leave her alone." The order was calm, but strong.

"Okay." I released her, bored now that a better toy had come along.

We bickered back and forth for a few minutes, and I even managed to get him out on the grounds alone. In perfect timing too.

* * *

><p>Elena's POV<p>

We walked up to the door, but Damon standing there with a drink in his hand caught my attention. His blue eyes pierced right through me and I just couldn't walk away from him. He looked so…I don't even know if sad was a deep enough word to cover it. "Hey, how are you doing?"

He didn't seem like he wanted to make eye contact at first and I wondered if he was ashamed by what had happened. "Great Elena, walking on sunshine. Thanks for asking."

"Damon." I sighed.

"Elena." He said my name like I was almost a bother to him. Perhaps I was.

"We should be able to talk about this. Damon, we're close enough now. I really wanna know how you're doing."

He took another sip of his drink, looking out over the lawn. "I kissed you, thought you kissed me back. Doppelganger high jinks ensued." He looked at me again. "How do you think I'm doing?"

"I think that you're hurt."

"Mhmm. No, I don't get hurt Elena." His smirk was there, but I could tell it was fake. All of this, his whole act was fake. Like a shield.

"No, you don't admit that you get hurt. You get angry and cover it up and do something stupid."

His smirk turned into a righteous smile. "You're scared. You think Katherine's gonna send me off the deep end don't you? I don't need her for that." I felt the jab in my heart, and knew he'd meant it to hurt me. He walked past me, but stopped. Never able to let anything go. "You know what, why is it such a surprise that I would kiss you?"

"That's not a surprise." That interested him, and I quickly clarified myself. "I'm surprised that you thought I'd kiss you back."

His face fell immediately, but he tried to close it over with indifference and failed miserably. The pain however was still etched in his eyes and this time I'd hurt him so badly he didn't mind to admit it. "Now I'm hurt."

* * *

><p>Damon's POV<p>

So, Katherine was here, and thanks to witchy we heard all about it. Elena took off before I could say anything else, and I went off to find her. When my phone vibrated in my pocket telling me she'd found Stefan via text message I went to find them. From the quick glance I got of Stefan's wound, the bitch had got him pretty bad. He would get no sympathy from me however. "Ew, cover up Fabio." My comment earned me a glare from Elena but my temper was taking no prisoners today. If she wanted to be mad at me, she was going to be mad at me anyway. "We got a crazy ex on the loose. Better watch out, looks like Katherine is trying to steal your guy."

For a minute she actually looked nervous. "That's not what's happening." Stefan interjected, but Elena didn't look entirely convinced.

"Isn't it? I mean, it's only fair since I went after your girl."

Elena didn't really know what to say and whereas Katherine had loved to be in the middle of us, Elena hated it. "I'm going to check on Jenna and Jeremy. Let me know when you guys are done."

She left us alone, as if her presence would stop me from speaking freely. "So what's it gonna be huh?" I raised my fists, swaying around like the jerk they both thought I was anyway. "Fight to the death?" Stefan gave a half hearted laugh and shook his head. "Go on, make your threats, stake your claim."

He didn't respond, even to the light tap. "I'm not gonna fight you."

"Why!" I asked exasperated. "I'd fight me."

"Katherine is going to try and play us against each other, you do know that right?" I felt like smacking him. As if that's what she hadn't been doing since the moment we both laid eyes on her.

"Brother, don't you worry. Our bond, is unbreakable."

Stefan was not in the mood for my theatrics, which I found very disappointing. "We need to stay united; against her. So yes, as much as I want to kill you, I'm not gonna fight you."

"I kissed Elena." I reminded him, hoping it would be the final straw. I really needed to punch something.

"Because you feel something for her, because you actually care. I won't let Katherine come in, and destroy that part of you that is finally, after all this time; willing to feel something. She'll try to break you, she'll try to break us. And how we respond that will define us. It's our choice…so no, I'm not gonna fight you."

He walked away, and I felt my heart clench. Now I really wanted to hurt him, for being so damn good.

* * *

><p>I knew from watching afar that Stefan took Elena home. I wanted to go to her, apologize for being such an ass but I couldn't. Not with him there. I wanted to say everything I'd told to Katherine, but the words were gone. They wouldn't mean anything now, not now that she'd been so obvious in her disgust at the idea of 'our' kiss. So I did what I do best. I go home, alone. When I walked into the Boarding House, I was alone, but by the time I'd poured my drink I sensed another presence and I knew it was her. My heart dropped, and I felt halfway between joy and death. Why was she here? What the hell did she want from me now? "Very brave of you to come here."<p>

"I wanted to say goodbye."

I glanced at her, practically sprawled on the couch. Was she really trying to seduce me, or did she just ooze enough sexuality that it came naturally to her. "Leaving so soon?"

"I know where I'm not wanted." She didn't sound impressed that we hadn't welcomed her back with open arms but I really wasn't in the mood to give a shit.

"Don't pout, it's not attractive on a woman your age." I emptied the glass. I needed more.

She scoffed. "Ouch." I could just as easily snap her neck as crawl onto that couch with her and pretend I was making love to Elena, but it would take real strength to walk away from her. Walk away from the very thing that I'd been searching over a century for. I tried that, but she was infront of me a moment later. "What, no goodbye kiss?"

"Why don't I kill you instead?" she smirked, knowing I couldn't. "What are you doing here?"

"Nostalgia, curiosity, ectera."

I shook my head, not buying it. "I'm better at the enigmatic one-liners Katherine. What are you up to?"

It was incredible really, the same face; the same voice and yet they were so different. How was that possible? "Trust me Damon, when I'm up to something; you'll know it. Come on," she dared me; slowly moving closer. "kiss me, or kill me. What will it be? We both know you're only capable of one…" Again I tried to walk away, but she moved with me, around me and had me down on the ground. Her age and her strength surpassing mine. I felt her body settle above me, and I had to think. Did I really care, or did I just want her? She smoothed her hand down my chest, her curls falling in my face. She felt so good, so familiar. "My sweet, innocent Damon."

That set me off, and I wrapped my fingers around her throat, pressing her down onto the carpet. I could kill her, I could. I could hold her down, snap her neck then break the leg of the wooden table beside me and plunge it into her chest. I pictured it all in my mind; how easy it would be. And then she moved beneath me, and the light from the fire caught her hair and I knew I was powerless against her. She was all I wanted, or at least she was the closest thing I was going to get to what I wanted right now. Our lips met in a heated, open mouthed kiss. Our bodies responding to the other like the long lost lovers we were. Only now, she didn't have to be gentle with me, and now I could give her back some of the pain she'd put me through. "That's more like it." she panted as I moved my kisses down her neck.

Katherine was never one to be under control for long though, and moments later I found myself shoved against a wall, my shirt torn open. She raked her nails across my chest, before leaning in to devour my mouth again. I returned her beat for beat, shoving her against the dresser and quickly throwing all the books onto the floor. Her top was ripped open, my mouth wide as I fought to taste all of the skin that I could. She smelled so sweet, but I knew she was anything but.

"Okay, wait. Wait. Brief pause." She seemed very put off, glaring at me as she shoved me away. "Answer it and it's back to fireworks and rockets red glare. Answer it right and I'll forget the last hundred and fourty five years I've spent missing you. I'll forget how much I loved you, I'll forget everything and we'll start over. This can be our defining moment, because we have the time; this beauty of eternity. I just need the truth…just once."

I wrapped my fingers through her hair, pleading with her, with the Gods that she wouldn't break my heart. "Stop." She whispered, shaking her head. "I already know your question, and it's answer. The truth is, I've never loved you. It was always Stefan."

She looked sorry to finally say it, but that didn't stop the knife from twisting in my gut. I never actually thought that I'd ever hear the words and the realization nearly crippled me. I waited until the door closed behind her before I fell to my knees and let out a deep scream. It scratched my throat and tore my lungs. I sat there, my nails digging into the hardwood, then my eyes settled on the bar cart and I crawled to it, pulling a bottle of bourbon down. I leaned my back against the wall and drank. I drank until it and two other decanters were empty. Then I got up, changed my shirt and went to Elena's. It wasn't possible that they could both reject me in the same night. God wouldn't be that cruel.

Elena's POV- Gilbert Home

I knew I shouldn't have been, but I was startled when I walked into my bedroom to find Damon sitting at the end of my bed. He smelled like alcohol and sweat and cologne. I could sense there was something wrong but I resisted the urge to go to him. I had to. "You scared me."

"Just doing my part in the neighbor hood watch." His voice wasn't slurred, but it was obvious he wasn't himself.

I sighed, wishing I knew what to say. "Thanks, um…for looking out for us. For me."

"That's me." He was avoiding looking at me again. Was it because I reminded him of Katherine, or because she reminded him of me now? "Your trusty bodyguard. Calm in crisis."

I grimaced. When has he ever been calm in crisis? "Have you been drinking?" He held his fingers up together, very closely. "And you're upset, that's not a good combination."

"No, I'm not upset. Upset is an emotion specific to those who care."

"Come on Damon," my arms ached to hug him. "That's a lie. You care."

He finally looked up at me, the alcohol giving him courage. "You're surprised I thought you would kiss me back. You can't imagine I'd believe that you'd want to?"

"Damon-" I went to deny, but he was going to have none of that.

"That what we've been doing here means something? You're the liar Elena. There is something going on between the two of us and you know it." He rose, ignoring the shock plastered on my face. He didn't care that he was airing all our dirty laundry out. Even if I refused to admit it belonged to us. "And you're lying to me, and you're lying to Stefan and most of all you're lying to yourself. And I can prove it."

I could feel his control slowly waning, but I couldn't stop him and part of me didn't want to. The part that did was stronger though. He grabbed me, his hands on my face, firm but gentle. "No, no." he pulled me in, our lips crashing together. "Damon don't…what's wrong with you?"

"Lie about this." Another dare, one I would take.

"Stop it, you're better than this."

"That's where you're wrong." He shook his head, trying to pull me closer.

"No. Damon, I care about you. Listen to me, I care about you." I moved his hands away from my face, his fingers curling with mine as he tried to hold onto a shred of hope. "I do…but I love Stefan. It's always gonna be Stefan."

Those words did something to him. I saw the change in his eyes. "Elena, what's going on in here?" Jeremy stepped into the room before I could decipher it.

"Nothing Jeremy it's okay. Just go back to bed."

"No, it's not okay Elena." Damon's voice sounded low, far away even though he was right in front of me. "He wants to be a vampire."

I watched, half terrified, half frozen in fear as Damon rushed across the room, pinning Jeremy against the wall. His hands were around his neck and I stood startled. He wouldn't do it, he couldn't do it. I could move to stop him. "No, Damon stop it!"

"You want to shut out the pain?" Damon couldn't hear me. "It's the easiest thing in the world. The part of you that cares, just goes away. All you have to do is flip the switch, and snap!" I heard the thick, decisive break of bone and watched Jeremy crumple to the ground.

"Damon! No!" I screamed, falling to my knees next to my brother. I felt Jeremy's chest but there was no heart beat. He was dead…he was gone. I looked up at Damon, but there was no signs of remorse on his face. Only anger, only self pity. Then he was gone. I cradled Jeremy's head on my lap, my eyes falling on the ring on his hand.

Had Damon seen it? What did it mean? Did it matter? The love, the feelings I'd had for Damon all faded away. He felt nothing, and now I felt nothing. Nothing but hate.

_a/n: so…hardly a happy episode which is perhaps why I've been putting it off for so long. That and life has gotten even more crazier than normal. Ugh, two jobs and hubby and home and so on. Hope you are all still excited for S2! Let me know if you are pretty please. It is VERY time consuming writing these chapters._


	10. Chapter 10

_a/n: let's be honest. Things get a lot worse for Delena in Season Two before they get better. In fact, until the last three and a half minutes of the season, it's all pretty downhill. But like I've always said; each moment counts, every second matters. Every single scene they've spent together means something. Oh, and we get two episodes in one chapter this time._

_Ps. Those of you that have been keeping up will know that I do my own 'deleted scenes' kinda thing. I manipulate the show to fit a better story feel. Well, recently I got the idea as I was rewatching the episodes on dvd to take a look at the real deleted scenes to see if there are any missing Delena moments the writers never gave us and whola! I found one! Can you spot it? _

Damon's POV- Mystic Falls High

I stayed out of the light even though I had my ring on. The shadows would protect me from something far more potent then burning in the sun. Elena held a clipboard in her arms, Witchy across from her. Bonnie, always the one to bring the positive into every situation was clearly not letting up on the latest Mystic Falls drama, even though discomfort was clear on Elena's face. "I mean Katherine looked just like you. It was freakish."

"She is my ancestor." She sounded impatient, wishing Bonnie would just drop it. "Hey, I moved the student booths into the cafeteria."

"Your vampire ancestor. And she didn't just resemble you like a family member. She was you."

Could the girl seriously not take a hint? "I don't know, I can't explain it okay? It's creepy, that's all I got."

"How do you know she's not out there still pretending to be you?" Apparently not.

"I don't." Elena sighed and grabbed the bag of stuffed snakes, moving away from the witch. "But I could sit here and be tortured by the not knowing or I could get these prizes to the ring toss."

"Have you talked to Damon, since he killed Jeremy? Or tried to kill Jeremy?"

My attention perked up at this, even seeing the disconcerting look on Elena's face. "No Bonnie I haven't." She turned away from me. "I won't and I don't wanna talk about Damon or anything else that is vampire related."

"Copy that." Bonnie smiled, taking the stuffed snakes.

"I'm human." Elena sighed, turning to grab the clipboard. "And I have to do human stuff, otherwise I'm going to go crazy."

"Okay." Bonnie nodded, seeming to get at least a sliver of the fact she was being a pushy _witch. _"I'm sorry. I'll focus. We have to make Caroline proud, or she will kill us."

I smirked, thinking of the blonde control freak. My blood should have done its job by now in healing her. I should call Liz and check on them. "I don't know how she does this all the time."

Elena smiled, glad to be off the vampire topic. "Well it's because she's not human…obviously."

"Obviously." Bonnie smiled and they walked away. I moved along the tree line, still in the shadows. I saw Elena slip into the school and stayed back a few feet. I stopped, ducking behind a line of lockers when I found her standing with Stefan.

"I was just hoping this carnival would lure him back into the land of high school teenager."

"Oh is that what we're doing here?" Stefan asked innocently, playing along for Elena's sake. Clearly she needed support from someone.

"Yes, we all are. We're gonna be boring high school students who live in a world where the V word is not uttered."

"Got it." Stefan agreed.

"Then later, your gonna take me on the ferris wheel. We're gonna ride to the very top and you're gonna kiss me. And my heart will flutter like a normal high school girl. Do you see a running theme here?"

I swallowed the bile in my mouth and resisted the urge to roll my eyes. When was Elena going to wake up and realize that she was destined for much more than being just a simple, normal high school girl? She'd told me so herself…not that she remembered of course. "Yeah." Stefan nodded. "I'm seeing it, I'm liking it…but I have a quick question. Um…what do we do about Damon?"

Once again my ears perk up. It's as if the running theme with her is me. "Uh," she held up her finger to silence him. "No D work okay? That has been deleted from the list of topics that we can discuss."

Stefan, like Bonnie didn't take the hint. "Unfortunately, Katherine showing up had put him in a little bit of a bad place. A little off-kilter. Who knows what he's up to?"

Elena looked frightened, but she took a deep breath, shook her head and opened her eyes. "Just today, can we please not talk about him?"

Stefan nodded, relenting. "Deal."

I walked back to the Camaro, pulling the open from beneath the seat. After a few good swigs and a few good minutes of self pity I tossed the empty bottle in the back seat and chewed a half dozen pieces of gum till they were bland. I had to meet Carol at the Mansion and I couldn't show up looking devastated.

Stefan's POV- Boarding House

I hadn't heard from Damon all day and it was starting to worry me a bit. There was no news reports of any more 'animal killings' so I took the chance that he would be at home. After a quick search of upstairs, I found him just arriving, pouring a blood bag into a crystal glass. "Would you care for one?" he asked, tempting me. Probably just to be a jerk, because he could.

"No, thank you. Not hungry; just ate."

"Aren't you worried that one day all the forest animals are gonna band together and fight back? I mean, surely they talk."

I ignored his jab, pointing at the glass. "I'm just glad that's a blood bag and not a sorority girl supplying your dinner."

His smirk was a little half-heartened. "I like this; you walking on eggshells around me because you think I'm going to explode. It's very suspenseful. Is Elena worried too? I bet I'm your every conversation."

There was a flash of superiority in his tone; like he knew something and I had to hand it to him. Two whole minutes without mentioning her name. "Have you heard from Katherine?"

The smirk left his face in a flash. "I think the Lockwoods have a family secret. The Gilbert device affected them but the verain didn't. So they're not vampires. They're something else."

So…Katherine, then Elena. Now the Lockwoods. "So is this your new obsession?"

"Oh, you'd rather some unknown supernatural element running rampant in our town, fine. I'll drop it."

"We haven't seen the last of Katherine. You do know that right? We have no idea what she'd up to."

He couldn't hide the pain he felt even at the mere mention of her name and as a brother I hated to bring that out in him, but as a foe I couldn't help but to extort his weakness. He scoffed. "Sure we do. She came back to profess her undying, eternal love for you. So I'm gonna let you deal with her, because I have more important things to do. Like explode." His wiggled his brows and stood. "Cheers."

I watched him walk out, wondering if this was the calm before the storm.

Elena's POV- Mystic Falls High

The carnival was going off a lot better than I'd originally thought it would. I was relieved, and considering how incredibly stressful the last few months had been it finally looked like we were going to have a nice, calm night. That was, until he appeared out of almost nowhere, blocking my path. "Nice little shin dig huh?" I wanted to hit him, but I had to follow my own rule of ignoring him so I tried to walk around him. "Oh that's the way you're gonna play this?"

"I'm not playing Damon." I tried to sound firm, like I was talking to a bothersome child. Instead my full frustration and anger came out.

"Relax. I saw the ring on Jeremy's hand. I knew he wasn't gonna really die. I was being dramatic."

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" I glared at him, wanting to believe him but knowing I couldn't. I tugged out of his reach as Stefan came toward us.

"What are you doing here?"

Damon, his ever smug self, set his arm on my shoulder. "Stuff."

Oh, how I wanted to slap him. He walked off, leaving both of us with more questions than answers. Stefan's attempt at distracting me with the Koala bear prize worked for a few minutes, but hardly any more. I still had a lot of work to do so I left him to man his game and went off to find Amanda. Surely she'd found the stuffed snakes by now.

No sooner as I'd managed to put Salvatore drama out of my mind, Damon came back with a vengeance. "Elena."

"What do you want Damon?"

"I know I'm the last person you wanna see, but I need you to come with me."

"Whatever it is, I'm not interested." Why wouldn't he just leave me alone? Go find someone else to torment?

"Yeah I need you to come with me right now, Elena." There was something in his voice, in his eyes. I didn't trust him, but I didn't exactly think he would hurt me either. No, Damon would never hurt me. I handed the straws to Amanda and followed him, taking two steps for every one of his.

* * *

><p>Damon's POV<p>

They took the news about Caroline a lot better than I expected them to. "How did this happen?" Stefan demanded, his voice fairly calm all things considered.

"I fed her my blood, Katherine killed her. And A plus B equals…"

"But why?" Elena was masking her worry fairly well but I could see through her. She was panicking inside.

"Because Katherine is a manipulative, nasty little slut."

"And she said 'game on'. What does that even mean?" Stefan has begun pacing, oh no…not the pacing. Pacing means thinking and thinking means he's going to stop me from doing the logical thing.

"It means she's playing dirty. And she wants us to know."

"But why Caroline?" Elena asked again, clearly sick of her family and friends being attacked.

I couldn't exactly blame her. "I don't know." I sighed.

Stefan moved to her. "Caroline must be completely out of her mind. She has no idea what's happening."

"Oh, I think she does." I really didn't want to trudge up my abusive boyfriend badge, with Elena still pissed at me and all but desperate times and all that. If all she knew about being a vampire was what she remembered from me, we were in a lot of trouble. "All my compulsion from the past, started wearing off the minute she was in transition."

"We have to find her." Stefan's voice was tense, stressed.

"Yep, and kill her."

Elena's eyes widened, glaring at me. "You're not gonna kill Caroline."

"She knows who we are. She's officially a liability. We gotta get rid of her."

"Damon," Stefan reached out to Elena to comfort her. "absolutely not."

They were being so unreasonable! "Need I remind you of a tragic little story of a girl named Vicki Donavan? Yeah, Caroline of all people will not make it as a vampire. Her mother is a vampire hunter." I thought of Liz, how this would affect her. I didn't want to see the only friend I have go through the pain of hating what her daughter had become. Caroline's self loathing was strong enough without the additive of knowing her mother really couldn't stand her. Honestly, it was easiest thing to do all around. "Guys, come on. We all know how this story ends. Let's just flip to the last chapter and-"

"It's not an option Damon." Elena tone was strong, stubborn. I was not going to get her permission on this one.

"No?" I looked to my brother. "Your silence is deafening Stefan. Wait, wasn't there a school carnival the night you staked Vicki? Talk about a town where history repeats itself. You know I'm right."

Elena looked at Stefan for help, scared he would see my light. "We're not gonna kill her."

She walked past me, after him; not meeting my eyes."It's the only way."

* * *

><p>Caroline let her weight fall against my chest as I held her close. The stake was in my right hand, ready to plunge into her back. She had to relax, just a little more. Then I was being shoved back and the stake was on the ground. "Stefan!" I growled, Caroline whimpering in the background.<p>

"Get away from me." She backed away from Elena, scared. "You killed me."

"No, no, no. Caroline that wasn't me. You know that, that was Katherine."

Caroline shook her head. She was gone, the bloodlust, the guilt, it was all too much for her. "No! Then why does she look like you? And why? Why did she do this to me?"

Elena looked at Stefan hopelessly. "Stefan we gotta get her inside."

With his eyes on me he backed up, holding his hand out to the weeping girl. "It's okay Caroline, come with me."

"She will die." I piped up, never one to be left out. "It's only a matter of time."

I could feel Elena's pained glare pierce through me. Stefan shielded her with his body. "Maybe so, but it's not gonna happen tonight."

"Oh yeah it is." I moved, fast. Too fast. Grabbing the stake and lunging forward. It wasn't fast enough though, Elena was in front of her, protecting her. We stared each other down, both knowing I could throw her aside with one finger if I wanted to.

"Damon, she's my friend."

This girl had to learn that her choices had consequences. I relented, holding my hands up in surrender. "Whatever happens, it's on you."

"Get her cleaned up." She said to Stefan, but Witchy chose that moment to appear.

"Caroline?"

"It's okay," Stefan took her hand and tried to pull her away. "come on."

"No. You're not…you can't…you can't be." She moved forward, grabbing Caroline's arm and seeing for herself what the truth was.

"Bonnie?" Caroline sounded like a hopeless child.

"Oh God." The witch pushed past her friend to see the dead boy, no doubt someone she knew.

"Bonnie." Caroline called to her again, but she didn't hear her or she didn't care.

Elena pushed them away, needing to keep Caroline and I apart. I went off to get a shovel, knowing we would have to get rid of this body before anyone else saw what had happened.

"I can't believe this is happening." Bonnie shook her head.

"Oh, come on. Don't pout about it. We got a body to bury."

She glared at me, never one to understand my brand of humor. I moved to Elena, leaning the shovel in her direction. "Thought you were calling the shots…no?" she didn't move and I slid the shovel up onto the deck. "Sucks to be you buddy."

All of a sudden the familiar searing pain shot through me and I collapsed on my knees, barely feeling the hard pavement beneath me. "I told you what would happen if anyone else got hurt." She spoke calmly, menacingly.

"I didn't do this." I groaned, feeling like I was going to die but knowing that I couldn't.

"It's not his fault." Elena defended, but Witchy was having none of that.

"Everything that happens is his fault Elena."

"Bonnie what are you doing?" Their voices sounded far away, even though they were only a few feet from me. The pain in my head ceased as she focused her powers on a new spell. I could smell gas, knew she was turning the water from the hose to fuel. It had already soacked into my jeans, my boots. Then the fuel turned to fire, creeping toward me. "Bonnie stop it." Elena sounded panicked. For me? "Bonnie stop it!" I felt the flames leap at my boots, and then my legs were engulfed in flames. This; the fire could end me. "Bonnie stop it you're gonna kill him!"

I screamed, the pain searing my flesh, over and over. The pain never ending as my body tried to heal itself only to be bit back and burned away again. Through the flames I saw Elena leap over them, shaking Bonnie and pulling her hold on the spell. The witch pushed her away. "Why, why did you stop me?"

"Because this isn't us. Bonnie, this can't be us." She glanced at me, made sure I was alive and then she took Bonnie and ran. Now it was her protecting me. And once again, she saved my life.

* * *

><p>Elena's POV- Boarding House<p>

I sat on the couch next to Stefan, waiting. Just waiting. The cup in my hand had cooled by now, the tea far past room temperature. The brothers heard Alaric come to the door before he could even knock, and Damon was up to invite him in. "Thanks for coming Ric. Can I get you something to drink? Coffee, bourbon, bourbon in your coffee?"

"Elena mentioned you needed my help." He took Damon's seat, leaving the elder Salvatore brother to hover over the arm chair beside Stefan. At least he didn't sit beside me. He seemed to have gathered the hint that I didn't want to be anywhere near him.

Stefan spoke first. "Yeah, we were hoping you could shed some light on the Lockwood family."

Ric looked to Damon as if asking if this were for real. "Now why would I know anything about the Lockwoods?"

"Well you wouldn't; but your dead-not-dead vampire wife might."

Alaric took a deep breath, even the mention of her brought him pain. I spoke calmly, hoping he wouldn't shut down. "Isobel's research, from when you were at Duke together?"

"You said that she had spent years researching this town." Stefan continued.

Alaric let out the breath he'd been holding. "Isobel's research here in Mystic Falls was rooted in folklore and legend. At the time, I thought move of which was fiction." He look pointedly at the brothers, as if they were fictional characters that might disappear at any moment.

"Like that amazing vampire story." Damon threw in his two cents.

"Aside from vampires," I drew the talk back to our main goal. "what else?"

"The lycanthrope."

I knew that word, but it was hardly common. "Like werewolves?"

"No way." Damon shook his head. "Impossible. Way too Lon Chaney."

"Is it?" Stefan asked, the brothers butting heads once again.

"I've been on this planted hundred and sixty some odd years, never come across one. If werewolves exist, where the hell are they?"

"Why do you suspect the Lockwoods?" Alaric sounded worried, but curious.

"Because vervain didn't affect the mayor on Founders Day but the Gilbert device did. And it affected his son Tyler."

Stefan had his brooding look, where as Damon seemed calm. Annoyed maybe, but collected. "And at the school carnival his uncle; Mason exhibited inhuman behavior when he fought one of the carnival workers. So it's suggested, some sort of supernatural entity."

Alaric shook his head sadly. I had to get him to focus, the air practically hummed with his discomfort. He did not want to talk about her. "We hoped Isobel's research could help us figure out what it is."

"Well, all of her things are still at Duke." He cleared his throat, not liking the idea but seeing there wasn't much other way to know the truth for sure. "I mean her office is still there, she's technically still missing."

He looked pointedly at Damon, who only ignored the look. "So can we get access to it?" Ric still looked uncomfortable, but Damon wasn't much one for tact these days. "Ric, we need to know what we're dealing with. If this wolfman thing is true I've seen enough movies to know this aint good. It means that Mason Lockwood is a real life Lon Chaney, and that little Tyler punk may just very well be Lon Chaney Jr. Which means Bela Lugosi, meaning me is totally screwed."

I would have to do my own googling after this meeting to figure out all the references he'd just spit out but from the understanding on Ric's face that he'd been right about Damon being screwed.

Damon's POV- Gilbert House

I watched Elena walk down the porch, toward me. She didn't look impressed, or excited. Was it really that bad to spend time with me? It's not like we were going to be alone. "Sorry you can't come to Stef."

My comment only earned a hard look from her as she shoved her bag in through the half open window. She turned to Stefan, her disdain clearly etched on her face. "Call me if you need anything."

"Oh I'll take really good care of her." She reached up, her hand around Stefan's neck and pulled him for a kiss. But it wasn't just a normal kiss- no this was a I'm trying to make your brother jealous kiss. Did Stefan notice that? Well, whatever she was doing, it worked. I looked away, slightly confused. If she didn't want my attention then why keep throwing herself in my face? As if I didn't know she and Stefan had sex. Since basically that's what that kind of kiss meant; sex. Ric walked around to the front, and got in. I sighed in relief of an excuse to break them up. "Okay, time to go."

I slid into shot gun as Elena got in the back. I considered teasing her if she wanted company but I figured I was in enough trouble already for one day. The car ride was fairly silent except for whatever 'music' Ric had playing. The barrier she had between the backseat and us was so thick you could cut it with a knife, but she didn't scare me. Or at least, I couldn't let her know she scared me as much as she did. I reached back and squeezed her knee. "How you doing back there?" she instantly pulled away, her eyes darting out the window. I could see her roll them in the rear view mirror. "You know this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly."

Ric scoffed. "I don't think she's pretending. You did kill her brother."

"There is a huge asterisk next to that statement." Did no one realize that the little punk was still walking around? "He came back to life."

"Yeah," she finally spoke. "thanks to a ring you didn't know he was wearing."

"Why are you so sure I didn't know?"

I could feel her eyes boring into the back of my head. "Did you?"

"Yes." I looked back at her, smiling.

She did not return the gesture. "You're lying."

"Elena, I saw the ring. It's a big tacky thing. It's hard to miss."

She curled back into her cocoon of silence, speaking only to Ric until we reached Duke. When the car stopped and she got out I tried to grab her elbow, hold her back so we could talk but she shrugged me off and followed Alaric inside. "So Isobel was officially employed by the Anthropology Department given that most paranormal phenomena is rooted in folklore." We walked through the main meeting area of the hall. A woman with dark hair jumped at the sound of our presence. "Hi, excuse me. I'm Alaric Saltzman. I called earlier."

"Yes." She smiled, laughed a little. "Of course, I'm Vanessa Monroe; research assistant. Comparative Folklore" I couldn't help looking her over, thinking those long legs could assistant my research any time. She glanced at us, but there was something not so welcoming in her eyes. "Oh, let me just grab Isobel's keys."

Something about her set me off, and it seemed Ric as well. "Sorry, my friends; Elena and Damon. I hope this isn't an imposition."

"Oh please," she smiled, walking over to the desk. "Isobel's office is right through there." I took a quick look around; eyeing the exits in case we needed a quick getaway. There was just something about this girl. "Isobel was one of my first professors. I'm a grad student. She was brilliant; one of the reasons I went into folklore." She rested her hip on the desk. "I have to ask…um…has there been any news?"

"No…" Ric shook his head fractionally. "no I'm afraid not." At least none that she would want to hear. She looked disappointed but didn't ask anything more.

"It's right through here." She unlocked the door, guiding us into an office, one that appeared not to have been open in a while. There was a definite musty tone to the air and it was dark save for the sun coming in through the window. "I'll get the light. Feel free to look around. It's fascinating isn't it?"

It was just a little too quiet and I looked back to find we were alone. "Where did she go?"

Elena gasped and I looked up, seeing the scene and taking the only second I had to react. The crossbow's arrow flew through air, sinking deep into my back as I covered Elena's body with mine. She looked scared, more than that but the vervain dipped head injected into my bloodstream and I crumpled. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

Elena's POV- Duke

Ric had shoved Vanessa against the wall, disarming her and then dragged her out of the office. I knelt next to Damon on the ground, helping him to his feet. The vervain must have been old because the effects were already beginning to wear off as I got him over to the desk. The wound had done nothing to affect his cocky demeanor. "Pull it out." He ordered through gritted teeth and I tightened my grip on the arrow, considering leaving it there or twisting it just because I could. "I can't reach it Elena. Just pull the damn thing out; it hurts." I pulled the arrow straight out of his back, hearing is his groan of pain. I hadn't been the one to shoot him, but it did feel a little nice knowing I'd caused him discomfort by pulling it out. "That bitch is dead." He promised, turning around.

"Uh, you're not gonna kill her." I blocked the door, and for a second he looked like he was going to fight me. Instead, he merely smirked. Using _that _voice.

"Watch me." He brushed past me.

"You touch her and I swear I will never speak to you again."

He looked back at me, smirking; just a little. "What makes you think that has any power over me? Because I took an arrow in the back for you?" He sauntered back over to me and I knew I'd won. "You are seriously overestimating yourself."

"Right. I forgot that I was speaking to a psychotic mind who snaps and kills people impulsively. Fine, go ahead; do whatever you want."

He looked down at me; half amused, half wondering. "You're trying to manipulate me."

"If manipulate you mean tell the truth; okay…guilty." I crossed my arms, my shoulders a little less tense now that he wasn't trying to touch me. Why was he always trying to touch me? His smirk was worthy of a good smack but then he would know I cared enough to use violence. "Okay."

I walked around him, ready to deal with whatever my birth mother's crazy assistant was about to hand us next.

* * *

><p>Damon's POV<p>

I shifted through stacks and stacks of useless notes. This chick really didn't use pointform. Like ever. I heard Vanessa move toward Elena, listening closely but staying back. She promised she wouldn't be a threat and we wouldn't learn anything if I hovered over them the entire time "This box tracks Katherine's arrival to Mystic Falls in April of 1864."

"Is that all there is about her?" Elena sounded disappointed.

"All that I'm aware of."

"Here." I heard Elena whisper, feeling her eyes on me. I could always tell when she was looking at me. "Take this."

"Does vervain really work?" Vanessa asked quietly.

"Nope, not all." I called back into the office, imagining Elena rolling her eyes.

"Can he hear us?"

I lowered my tone to a whisper like them. "No, that would be creepy."

"Can he read minds too?" she asked and I took my opportunity, turning to face them.

"If you wanna see me naked; all you have to do is ask."

Elena glared. "No, that he can't do." The look on her face wasn't one of my favorites, and I realized I really missed her smile. "But he is very capable of being a first-rate jackass."

I couldn't help my smirk; at least I was first rate something to her.

* * *

><p>Elena was standing by the window; her frustration more evident with every passing second. I moved over to her, desperate for some kind of contact. "Any luck?"<p>

"There's nothing in here about Katherine that we don't already know."

I took a deep breath, reeling her in. "Oh man, you know it's a bummer we're not friends anymore. I could tell you what I know."

She looked back at me. "Now who's manipulating who?"

Ric called us over, interrupting us with Vanessa and the story of the sun and the moon curse. It all sounded like too much to me but then again I was also a fictitious character part of that legend and if vampires were obviously real it wasn't that far of a stretch for werewolves to be too. And if they only turned once a month it would be a lot easier for them to hide their true nature than vampires were slaves to the sun, and also blood. The news however that a bite from these monsters could kill me was fairly unsettling, but if I'd gone over a hundred years without running into them it was safe to say I was less likely to be put in danger by one now.

We would just have to get rid of any threats of course.

* * *

><p>I watched from the corner as Elena pulled out a picture of Katherine. I could only see the profile of her face, but she looked almost pained looking at it. She looked at Vanessa, and I kept one eye on them. "Hey…um, have you done any research on dopplegangers?"<p>

"Well the word means a lot of different things to different cultures but typically a doppelganger is a living, breathing, double of oneself."

"Did Isobel have anything that'd explain the link between me and Katherine?"

"That's all she had on Katherine unfortunately." Vanessa pointed at the box. Elena looked over at me quickly and I snapped the book I was holding closed, pretending I hadn't been listening. "I can tell you that doppelgangers usually torment the people they look like. Trying to undo their lives. It's not exactly uplifting."

Elena sighed, turning the picture over and then back. "And more things we already know. Just…I wanna know why we look alike."

I sighed. "Head scratcher isn't it?"

You could almost see the frustration steaming off her. She needed to get laid; or answers would probably do the trick also. She wasn't going to get either from me though. "Do you know something, or are you just being yourself?"

"Well, _if _I know anything; I'm not gonna tell you. Not with that attitude."

"That's good, and this is coming from someone who wants to be my friend. But you know what? Friends don't manipulate friends; they help each other."

She set the picture of Katherine down back in the box and pushed past me. If friends didn't manipulate friends then what did she call what she was doing? Ric stood, starting to pack up. "It's late, we should really get going."

Vanessa nodded, and stood too. I held my hand out to Ric. "Can I have the keys?"

"Give her some time Damon." Ric sighed, moving away from me.

"Give me the keys Ric." I said again, dark but calm.

He shook his head, then reached into his pocket and tossed them at me. "If she stakes you, I'm not coming to your funeral."

I smirked and stepped back. The dark binding of a book caught my eye and the gold lettering glinted 'Petrova'. When Vanessa's back was turned I swiped it and left the office. I found Elena standing, tugging at the door handle of the jeep. "Here," I held up the keys and pushed the unlock button. The vehicle beeped and I reached for the handle. "allow me." I slid inside the door as she tried to get in, our bodies blocking each other. She didn't look comfortable this close to me. "You're not going to be able to hate me forever."

"Can we just go?"

I sighed. It wasn't like I deserved another chance from her, but that didn't stop me from wanting it. "You didn't dig deep enough." I said softly, handing her the book.

She looked at the spine. "Petrova? I saw this on the shelf."

"Katherine originally came from Europe. Petrova was her real name. Katerina Petrova to be exact."

"How did you know that?"

"Back when, I saw it engraved on an old heirloom. Men snoop too you know. Let me know what you find; I'm very curious myself." She didn't thank me, but tried to get in the car again. "You have every right to hate me. I understand. But, you hated me before and we became friends. It would suck if that was gone forever. So…is it? Have I lost you forever?"

She gave me a small smile. "Thank you for the book Damon."

I let her in and closed the door behind her, still not really sure if she was just playing me or not…but I would find out.

* * *

><p>The drive home was silent, but a bit more comfortable then the ride there. Elena had the book in her arms, hugging it to her chest almost the entire way. It could very well hold all the answers to the questions she needed and I couldn't help thinking that maybe I would get a little credit for the ease it would put to her mind. Ric was the first one to break the silence when we pulled up in front of her house. "Give me a few minutes with Jenna okay?"<p>

"Okay." Elena nodded, undoing her belt.

We sat in silence, just staring out into the night. Her phone buzzed and she answered it, getting all of the nights information from Stefan. She sounded worried, but not panicked. Things must be under control. When she got off the phone, I slipped out of the passenger seat and opened her door for her. She didn't smile, just slid past me and started walking towards the house. "Road trips were well for us." I teased, following her to the door.

"This doesn't mean that things are back to the way they used to be Damon."

"Oh come on. You know I chipped a little bit off your wall of hatred." She stopped, keys in her hands. She was ready to go inside, close the door and leave me standing alone on the porch.

"I need to know the truth…" she faced me and I could have groaned. It was so hard to lie to those eyes. "When you broke Jeremy's neck did you know that he was wearing the ring?"

I could lie, I could. She would probably know…or I might even get away with it for a time. But eventually she would find out and we would go through all of this again. If I was honest now she would take the time she needed to hate me, and maybe she would get over it. "No…no I didn't. Katherine really pissed me off, and I snapped, and…I got lucky with the ring. I don't know what I would have done if he wasn't wearing it. Elena, I'm sorry."

"Thank you for being honest with me." Relief flooded me, but there was something in her eyes that held me back. She knew my apology had been sincere but that didn't erase the fact of what I'd done. "And the answer to your question about our friendship; is yes. You have lost me forever."

We shared a look, and for the first time I saw Katherine in her. If it hadn't hurt so much I would have been proud. "But you knew that already didn't you? You used me today."

"You had information about Katherine that I needed to know."

"I thought friends don't manipulate friends. You and Katherine have a lot more in common than just your looks."

I turned then and left her, standing there. If she wanted to act like Katherine then she could have everything that bitch had. Including spending an eternity alone.

_a/n: I am a lot more excited for the later episodes in this season. I hate writing them mad at each other. You think it would be easy since they are always fighting but it's not. I do really love this journey back in time through all their moments._

_New chapters coming soon!_


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